A Different Past
by Xman321
Summary: The nightmare in that timeline was over. The nightmare is his was about to end. Yet still, it seemed another timeline, another dimension needed his help. The catch? He won't know it till it's too late. (After the Cell Games, but before Trunks returns to his time.)
1. Wrong Place, Wrong Time

**Another Day, another story. Yeah, I know, I've got too many unfinished stories, but I've also got a bunch of Ideas I don't want to lose.**

 **Anyway, simple concept here. Future Trunks's time machine machine ends up breaking down on his trip to his time after the Cell Games, and it lands him in the alternate dimension of RWBY, or as the world is called, Remnant. Let's do this, I guess.**

The goodbyes have been given. All the right levers had been pulled. All that was left to do was to push the button. I looked back at the people who have become my friends. The people I helped save. Goku, Gohan, Father, Mother, and all the rest. I waved goodbye one last time as I pushed the button, thrusting myself into the vortex that I've gotten so used to.

I closed my eyes. Despite what I've gone through, traveling through time is a very powerful experience, I couldn't keep my eyes open if I tried. Eventually, the wind, twists, and turns ended, and took a deep breath before opening my eyes, expecting to see the deserted city I've been calling home.

...but I didn't see anything like that.

Instead, I saw a lush, green, plain of grass. Trust me, I'd prefer this sight over the ruined city I was expecting, but I don't know how I ended up here. I checked at the controls. I had the right date set, right time, there's nothing I did wrong, from what I could tell.

Deciding I had no other options, I pushed the button to send me in the vortex again, but nothing happened. I sat for a second, confused, but then I realized the obvious conclusion.

"Damn! Out of fuel, now?!" I yelled. Wherever I was, I was stuck here till I could find more fuel. Hopefully this place has something like what I need.

Deciding there's nothing else I can do here, I pressed the button to open the hatch. Nothing happened at first, but after a moment, the hatch finally opened. I guess everything about this machine is running out of power.

I leaped out of my Time Machine, and began to look around at the surroundings. Something about the grass felt...different. It was almost unworldly to me. Deciding that I didn't have too much time to think about it, I looked behind me and saw an interesting sight. Underneath the cliff I had landed on, there were Kids...Kids with weapons, sure, but still, kids were fighting with some sort of giant bird. The bird almost looked shadow-like, as if it were a being of pure evil. Odder still, I could only sense the kids energy, the bird appeared to have no ki whatsoever.

I snapped out of my thoughts, realizing how terrible the situation at hand was. "There's no way those kids can stop this thing!" I yelled, leaping in the air, flying as fast as I could towards the bird. Before it even knew I was there, I launched it into the cliff I had come from with a hard kick. That didn't put it down though, as it began to launch itself towards me with it's large wings. I lifted my arms in the air, and began charging Ki in between them. I felt the surge of energy cover the distance between my hands, and proceeded to throw it towards the large bird.

"FINISH BUSTER!" I cried out, watching my projectile enter the birds open mouth. The hawk, as if knowing that it made a mistake, closed it's mouth the second the blast had gone through, but it was too late. A golden light broke free of the bird, and then another, and another, and another until the bird exploded in a bright light. When the smoke cleared, the bird was no more. Relieved, I allowed myself to float back down to the same level as the kids, and looked at them.

I could finally get a better look at them. There were two girls in the lead, one with black hair, ending with a red tint, and a large red cloak, and the other with white hair and a very royal-like dress. Behind them, holding on to two poles of what I assume used to be a platform were two girls with long hair. One of them had black hair, topped off with a large bow, and her ki seemed different compared to the others I was sensing. The one of the other pole had even longer yellow hair, and purple eyes. I looked behind me and saw 4 more kids, two boys and two girls. The first of the 4 that caught my eye was a boy with short blonde hair. Compared to the rest of the kids, his outfit seemed rather bland, being pretty much a shirt and jeans, with a plate of armor placed on. Next to him was a girl with dark red hair, holding a spear of some sorts. The other boy had medium long black hair with a odd bit of pink, and next to him was a girl with pink hair holding a large hammer like weapon.

"THATWASSOCOOL!" Yelled out a girly voice. I turned back towards the 4 girls, of which the Blond and Black haired ones were coming down to ground level, coming to the conclusion that the one with the red cloak was the one to speak. An easy conclusion to make, as her mouth was agape in happiness, and I could swear her eyes almost turned into stars. Instantly, any tension that surrounded the environment left, as I rubbed the back of my head, chuckling. Whoever these people were, I doubted they had ever seen anything like I could do before, most humans didn't.

"What was that thing?" I asked, hoping for answers about my situation sooner, rather than later.

The girl with white hair raised an eyebrow at me. "You've never heard of a Nevermore?"

I shrugged. "I guess it was that giant bird, but no, I've never seen anything like that before, what is it, some sort of demon?"

The long haired blond looked at me with shock. "You've never seen a Grimm before? How'd you manage to take it out that fast?!"

I didn't have a real answer, so I just tried to change the subject. "So, who are you guys, and why were you fighting that 'Nevermore'?"

The red cloaked girl once again responded, still excited from my destruction of the Nevermore. "I'm Ruby! Ruby Rose!" She explained, before pointing the blond haired woman. "This is my sister, Yang Xiao Long."

"You have two different last names?" I asked.

"It's...complicated." Yang explained with some hesitation. I decided not to press the issue.

The white haired girl did a curtsy. "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company"

The black haired girl didn't move very much at all. "Blake." She said in a cold tone. I noticed her bow seemed to twitch for a moment.

I turned by head to the other 4. The first one to speak up was the pink haired woman. "I'm Nora!" She said in a perky, upbeat voice. The boy behind her wore green, and greeted me with a slight bow.

"Lie Ren." He explained his name to me. Afterwards, the red haired woman stepped up.

"I'm Pyrrah Nikos." She explained, before nodding at the blond young man behind him. He walked up to me awkwardly before giving me his name.

"I'm Juane, Juane Arc." He stammered. I imagined the poor boy was still surprised with the Finish Buster I threw.

"We're being tested for Beacon Academy." Ruby continued, answering my 2nd question, though it did give me a third.

"What's that?" I asked, and once again everyone gave me a weird look, like it was a stupid question. Yang was the one to actually answer it.

"It's a school for kids like us, who want to be Huntsmen and Huntresses, you know, to fight the Grimm."

Interesting. These kids were being trained to protect the world from creatures like the bird I just killed, and if there's a school nearby, I might be able to find something to fuel my time machine. Wherever I ended up, it did NOT seem like a friendly place. No doubt I needed to get back home as soon as possible, as if that was in any doubt.

"So, if you're heading back to this "Beacon" or whatever, do any of you mind if I follow?" I asked.

They stared at me for a moment, thinking, before Ruby spoke up. "I don't see why not." She answered, and I smiled.

"Great! Then let's get going."

 **There we go! I know it's a rather short chapter, but my plan is to have shorter chapters so I get them out a little quicker than I usually do. My plan is to get a chapter out a week, but I don't want to promise anything, so don't get your hopes up.**

 **Either way, shoot me a review if you can, I'd like to know how my story was, regardless of if it was good or bad. See you next time.**


	2. Home away from Home

**Funny. I say I might get a chapter out a week, at best, and then it takes me a day to get this next chapter together. I blame all the positive support I got with this story. Seriously, 200+ views in the first couple days, 4 reviews, 10 follows and 7 favorites! Just...wow.**

 **Anyway, I don't expect other chapters to come so quickly, but hey, I guess I shouldn't hold back the chapter till it's been a week. That'd be mean.**

"So, how'd you make that big fireball?!" Ruby asked, that being her 5th question in 2 breaths. It seemed my hopes that I'd be able to get fuel for the time machine, and head back to my own time with little incident were not going as planned. I finally decided to cave into Ruby's request, as this one I could answer with little issue.

"I used my Ki." I began to explain to the girl. "Ki is our spiritual energy, our very life force. What I did back there was using my ki to heat up the air around me, turning it into a plasma."

I turned towards Ruby, who was listening attentively, clearly interested. "So, it's like aura?" She asked.

Yet another term I had never heard of before. "Well, what's aura?" I asked for clarification.

The girl smiled. "Well, Aura is like, the manifestation of our soul, and you said Ki was life force, so they seemed, you know, similar."

With my newfound knowledge, I answered Ruby's original question. "Then I guess they are pretty close. It's possible that Ki is just what they called it from what I came from."

"Whoa!" She said, her eyes turning to stars again. "You mean I could really do something like that?!"

I nodded. "If I'm correct, with enough practice, yes."

She squealed in excitement. "AWESOME!" She shouted, before asking me another question immediately. "So, where ARE you from anyway?"

"Sorry, can't say." I responded, turning my head away from the cloaked girl again, where I noticed some sort of castle in the distance.

"That's our school," Ruby explained. "Beacon Academy!" She puffed her chest proudly.

"I didn't expect the school to be so big..." I responded, taking another look at Ruby, noticing she seemed smaller than the rest of the kids. "You know, you seem...younger than everyone else."

Ruby put her hands on her hips. "That's because I am. I don't know why, but Professor Ozpin let me it to the school 2 years early."

I raised an eyebrow. "...and Professor Ozpin is?"

"The headmaster at Beacon." She explained.

I almost felt bad about dodging her questions, she was telling me far more than she needed to, even if all that information wasn't useful. In the span of our 5 minute walk, The crimson haired girl had told me about her Uncle Qrow, her father Taiyang, her dog named Zwei, the life at Beacon and Signal Academy, Signal being the school she was in beforehand, all of her new friends abilities, and her mouth showed no signs of slowing.

Eventually, we reached the doors of the castle-like Beacon Academy, where I saw a man and a woman. The woman had blond hair that somehow found a medium between being tied up and being let lose, and she held what I could only assume was a riding crop. The man next to her had short, uncut white hair. In one hand, he held a cane that seemed to have no purpose, as he stood just fine. In his other hand, he was sipping a cup of coffee. He had a face that seemed to show an emotion I couldn't quite explain, but it seemed to be a cross of being bored, and being excited.

"They must be the teachers." I thought, not noticing Ruby and the rest rushing past me towards the two.

"Professor Ozpin! We did it!" Ruby called out towards the man, pulling a chess piece out of one of her pockets. Most of the group did the same, and while I wasn't counting, it seemed it was only half of the group that did it, meaning either not everyone had to grab one of those chess pieces for whatever test they were taking, or some of them were partners. Based on the smiling faces of everyone, I assumed it was the latter.

"So we saw." Responded the blond haired teacher. The white haired one, who I could only assume was the "Professor Ozpin" Ruby had told me about, was the next to speak.

"Yes, and I was pleasantly surprised, every one of you managed to work together incredibly well. You were not the first to make it here, but you performed the best out of them all."

Ozpin directed his eyes to me. "At least, until he showed up." He said, in a tone that sent a small chill up my spine. Walking up to me, he continued speaking.

"That attack you performed, the one that destroyed the Nevermore, was something I had never seen performed in my long life." He said.

"Thank you?" I responded, not quite sure what he was getting on. What I did was a foreign concept to humans, that I understood, but his choice of words seemed odd to me.

Suddenly, I remembered the reason I had agreed to come to Beacon in the first place. "Mr. Ozpin, I don't exactly have anywhere to stay right now, so I was wondering..."

Opzin stopped me. "That won't be a problem..."

Ozpin looked towards Ruby, as if expecting an answer to a question he hadn't spoke. Ruby looked confused for a moment, before suddenly figuring out what Ozpin was asking. "He said his name was "Trunks"!" She said, snorting. "It's kinda funny." My name was one of the few questions Ruby had for me that I was willing to answer.

Ozpin looked back at me, continuing what he was saying. "Yes, that won't be a problem, Trunks, I'm sure we'll be able to find a place here for you to stay, but for now, I suggest you follow us to the assignment of teams. It's a very important part of these young huntsmen and huntresses's lives."

I nodded. "Alright, thank you, Professor Ozpin.". Ozpin directed the students to follow him, and proceeded to do the same.

 _30 minutes later_

"...The 4 of you will now be known as, "Team CRDL", Lead by Cardin Winchester."

I sat, and watched yet another group I was unfamiliar with walk off stage, but this time I saw them be replaced by 4 more people whom I was familiar with. Juane, the awkward blond was with Pyrrah, the red headed spear wielding lady, Lie Ren, the respectful man with an odd pink strand of hair, and Nora, smiling harder than I thought possible. Ozpin began to introduce them as well.

"Juane Arc, Lie Ran, Pyrrah Nikos, Nora Valkyrie." He announced. "The four of you received the white rook pieces. From this day forth, the four of you will work together as "Team JPNR". Lead by Juane Arc."

When he heard himself being assigned the leader of the group, the blond haired boy suddenly looked confused. "L-Lead by?" He stammered in confusion.

"Congratulations, young man." Was the only response Ozpin gave him before they all walked off the stage. Next, I saw the red cloaked Ruby, of whom I had become well acquainted with in about 5 minutes. Next to her was Weiss Schnee, who claimed to be the Heiress of a "Dust" company. As dust was not usually manufactured, I could only assume dust was the name of some sort of material in this timeline. The other two with them were Ruby's sister, Yang, and the mysterious Blake. I watched as Ozpin repeated his same speech that he had performed for the last 20 or so minutes.

"And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long." He announced to the crowd of students who had already recieved their respective teams. "The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces, and from this day forth, you will work together as "Team RWBY". Lead by Ruby Rose."

Ruby, like Juane, seemed surprised, though somewhat less so. What really surprised her was Yang jumping and hugging her.

"I'm so PROUD of you!" The long haired blond cried out, while Ruby merely managed to choke something out along the lines of "Can't...breath...".

It was a feel-good moment, not just for the students, but somehow for me too. I wasn't involved in anything that had happened prior, but it was nice to see these students succeed in the career field they wished to pursue.

...but all of that good feeling left the moment I sat down with Ozpin.

It felt cold inside of his office, and I couldn't figure out if it was because we were high up, or if I was just imagining it because the room looked like a clock tower. That's not mentioning the way Ozpin talked to me, it felt like I had made some sort of serious mistake that he was reprimanding me for. In fact, I'd say he could give my mother a run for her money in that department.

"So..." He started. "...We had been watching your fight with the nevermore, and the talk you had with the students, and I've found it most interesting how eaisly you had taken care of that nevermore, and yet you are so unfamiliar with Grimm and how the kingdoms work. Don't YOU find that interesting?"

I stayed silent, having nothing to say.

The blond haired teacher from before, Glynda Goodwitch, sighed. "Trunks, we aren't saying you're lying, but this situation is most odd, and we're just trying to figure out answers."

"I'm sorry, but even if I did have anything to explain, I wouldn't be able to tell it to you." I responded.

Ozpin leaned towards me, interested. "...and why is that?" He questioned.

I stared towards the floor. "Sorry, Can't say."

Ozpin sat back in his chair again, looking almost disappointed. "Very well." He continued. "Now, on the subject of getting you a place to stay, it appears we have a free dorm for you to stay in for as long as you have to. Glynda, if you wouldn't mind..."

The blond teacher nodded. "Trunks, follow me." She said. I got out of my chair and followed her to the elevator.

The way to my dorm was a long and quiet one. I had nothing to say to Glynda, and she seemed to my respect my act of silence. Once we finally reached the room, Glynda opened the door for me, allowing me to pass by without entering the room herself.

"We'll be able to supply you with a scroll tomorrow, Trunks." She said, apparently unfamiliar I wasn't aware what she meant by a "scroll" either. "...and while your here, if there's anything you want to tell us, you're welcome back to Ozpin's office to tell us." She finished, closing the door, leaving me alone.

I sat on my new bed, wondering where I was. WHEN I was. I'm not quite sure what happened to the time machine that caused it malfunction the way it did, but whatever happened, I know that tomorrow is going to be a long day.

 **So I got to write a bit of Ozpin and Glynda, and I hope I did them well. I find staying in character a difficult thing to do, but I think I'm pulling it off pretty well. Feel free to tell me how I could improve in a review.**

 **Also, not a lot of the students got to do anything this chapter, nor the last, but I'm focusing on Trunks right now, and he'll interact with the rest of RWBY and JPNR as the story goes on. Ruby's getting the most interaction off the bat because I have plans for her already.**

 **Anyway, I think this was a longer chapter, so yay, I guess? Please tell me if you liked it in a review, and until next time!**


	3. Revelations

**I can't figure out if I was late or not...**

 **Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter. Another short chapter where not to much happens. Hope you enjoy.**

Clearly, I wasn't in Kansas anymore.

The first thing I did after receiving my scroll, which was some sort of odd tablet, something I'd expect my mother to create, actually, was to find a map of Beacon academy. If I was going to be staying here, I needed to know my way around things. My first destination was the library. I wasn't aware what timeline I was in, so I should be able to figure things out by reading the books found here.

The first clue that something was off was the constant referral of the planet as "Remnant", not "Earth" like I had assumed. It was possible that was what people called the planet at this time, but that seemed unlikely.

The second clue was "Faunus", a species that looks like a hybrid of humans and animals. From where I come, a dog was president before the Androids attacked, so the concept didn't surprise me. Still, my timeline never had anything quite like a Faunus.

The third, and final clue was "dust". It was some form of crystal that had magical qualities, discovered when humanity were becoming almost extinct from battling the Creatures of Grimm. Apparently, it had many forms, most of which are harnessed as some sort of element. Fire, Ice, Electricity, etc. This was the final straw, this concept was so different from anything from my time, it couldn't possibly exist in the same timeline, could it?

It was then I realized that this place, "Remnant", apparently, wasn't just some alternate timeline.

It was an alternate dimension.

It seemed impossible, how could the Time Machine have sent me to a completely different world?! The more I thought about it, though, the more it made sense. Mother had told me that the Time Machine basically sent me to alternate timelines, and alternate timelines were little different from alternate dimensions. It's possible that my time machine, broken down from it's excessive usage, ended up missing a turn in the vortex, and sent me here.

Then again, I don't have a lot of evidence towards that theory. It makes the most sense, but there ARE other possibilities. Still, until proven otherwise, I'm sticking with the idea that Remnant is an alternate dimension.

Armed with my new knowledge, I figured my best course of action would be to go back to my time machine. I should have picked it up yesterday, but with everything that happened, I didn't have a lot of time. Using my new map, I began to navigate to the front doors of Beacon, but on my way, I ran into a familiar silver eyed face.

"Oof!" Yelped Ruby as I absentmindedly bumped into her. Once she saw me, she grew a careless smile and started to talk to me. "Hey, Trunks! What're you doing?"

Quickly, I came up with a lie. "I'm just going outside, figured I'd get some fresh air."

"Oh," The crimson-haired girl replied. "Well, have fun!" She said, as she continued her walk down the hall, presumably to a class with the rest of her team. Sighing in relief she didn't bombard me with questions as she did yesterday, I continued my gait to the exit.

Immediately as I walked out of the door, I put my scroll in my pocket, and manipulated my ki to lift my body off the ground, flying. I've been doing this for so long I can't exactly remember if Gohan taught me this, or if I just figured it out on my own, living in the chaos the androids left in their wake. I flew towards the place I had attacked the Nevermore the day prior, and drifted into thought.

After a short flight, I found my time machine, which was luckily no worse for wear than it was yesterday. I circled the machine, looking for the button that would return the machine into an easy to store capsule. Once I found it, I pressed it, causing a small "BOOF", as a small white container dropped on the floor.

I picked up the capsule, putting it into my pocket, and I started to fly off when I heard a growl in the distance. I immediately took a fighting stance. Out of the woods around me came a pack of grimm, beowolves, if my research was correct. Their slim, werewolf like bodies charged towards me with the intent to kill. The one in the lead lunged towards me, swiping it's claws. A simple duck dodged the attack, launching it off the cliff with a hard kick to the head. Turning my head, I saw the next beowolf that wanted to test it's luck. A simple punch to the stomach was enough to end it for good.

Deciding it was time to end things, I lunged towards the remaining beowolves, but to my surprise, one of the monsters had the same idea, leaping and knocking both of us off the cliff below. I used the momentum to knock the grimm monster all the way to the ground, while leaping back up to the top of the cliff. I fired a ki blast at the final grimm, destroying any dreams of attack it had. I landed on the ground, satisfied that there was less of those monsters on this world, but surprised at their strength. They weren't hard to kill, but if enough of them attacked, they could eaisly become a problem. I'd compare their power to that of a weak saibaman, easy to kill as one, but as a group they could be a serious threat.

Once more, I manipulated my ki, allowing me to fly. I charged back towards Beacon Academy, the place I would be calling home for sometime. It was funny, despite the grimm, this dimension seemed...peaceful. Relaxation wasn't something I got to experience often, I almost savored it. I figured that, while I need to get back to my dimension ASAP, Remnant would be a place for me to finally rest after everything.

...oh how wrong I was...

 **I forgot to do responses to reviews for chapter 1, but there weren't that many, so I'll just start with Chapter 2, if no one minds.**

 _ **ryanweston123**_ **: So glad you enjoy this story! I'm honestly surprised that I kept Ozpin and Goodwitch in character, they seemed rather tough to write, but I guess it paid off. I know I made some mistakes in spelling, but I hope I fixed them now.**

 ** _Wolfenheart_** **: Yep, guilty as charged, I got the Ki explanation for Film Theory.**

 ** _Guest_** **: What's this you say about Perfect Cell? Hm...**

 _ **Pt 1.**_ **: I guess in your mind, I'll be beefing the RWBY Characters, but in my mind, I'm simply giving the characters more credit than most do. RWBY Characters may not be able to blow up planets, but technically, neither can DBZ Characters. They always blow up the core.**

 ** _GotenGT_** **: He won't be a student, nor will he be a teacher, but he WILL be close to Beacon and Ozpin.**

 ** _Ben Jones_** **: WHAT 9000?! THERE'S NO WAY THAT CAN BE RIGHT!**

 ** _fustercluckouttaluck_** **: Well, RWBY IS a series where everyone has a weapon, so you may be on to something there...**

 **This episode took place during the Ruby and Weiss tension plot, and the next will be during the Jaune getting bullied episodes.**


	4. Breakfast Fiasco

**Tada! Another fast update for your precious little eyeballs! This chapter was a little longer, and I originally was gonna make it even longer, but I figured I needed to keep my chapter length somewhat consistent.**

 **As I said last time, this episode takes place during the Jaune and Cardin bullying scenario. The end of that will be next episode.**

 **Enjoy!**

I was sitting in the school cafeteria for breakfast, and I had long since devoured my helping. I was rather capable of having a second, or third, or tenth, but I decided not to in an attempt to not be rude. My stomach groaned, clearly not happy about my decision.

I tried to ignore my aching stomach by listening to the conversations across the cafeteria. Most weren't interesting, so just out of habit, my ears turned towards the group I knew. RWBY.

"So...there we were, in the middle of the night..." Nora explained, clearly telling a story of some kind.

"It was day." Ren corrected.

"...we were surrounded by ursai..." She continued.

"They were beowolves." Ren explained, a bored expression on his face.

Nora suddenly got out of her seat. "DOZENS OF THEM!" She shouted.

"Two of them." Ren said, stoic as ever.

"But they were no match!" Nora continued her tale, sitting back down. "...and Ren and I made a buttload of lien selling ursa skin rugs!"

Ren sighed. "She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now." If I wasn't so hungry, I probably would have laughed at the absurdity. These kids certainly were an oddity.

Pyrrha suddenly spoke up, turning her head. "Jaune?" She asked. "Are you ok?".

"Huh?" Was the blond boy's response. Clearly he hadn't been listening to the conversation at hand. "Well, yeah. Why?"

Ruby was the one to respond. "It's just that you seem a little...not ok..."

Jaune paused for a moment before giving an answer. "Guys, I'm fine, seriously! Look!" He said, giving a smile that wasn't real in the slightest. He chuckled nervously, before turning his head to look at another table. Confused, I looked over in that direction too, and saw team CRDL and a bunny faunus. Something seemed wrong.

"Jaune, Cardin has been picking on you since the first week of school." Pyrrha suddenly spoke, forcing my attention back at JNPR and RWBY.

"Who, Cardin Winchester?" Jaune said, acting defensive. "Naw! He just likes to mess around...you know? Practical Jokes..."

Ruby frowned. "He's a bully."

Jaune gave a fake smile again. "Oh, please! Name one time he's 'bullied' me!"

Ruby responded quickly. "There was that one time he knocked down your books on the way to class."

"Well..." Jaune tried to come up with a reason, but Pyrrha spoke up before he could answer.

"There was the time he activated your shield while you walked into a class, and you got stuck in the doorway." Was her example.

"Yeah, but..."

Nora suddenly spoke up, cheerful as ever. "Ooh! There was that one time he stuffed you into a locker, and rocketed you away!"

"I didn't land far from the school!" Jaune defended.

"Jaune, you know if you ever need help you can just ask." Pyrrha said, trying to ease her friend.

Once again, Nora jumped out of her seat with a huge grin on her face. "OOH!" She yelled in glee. "We'll BREAK HIS LEGS!" I raised an eyebrow.

"Guys, really, it's fine!" Jaune responded, clearly not wanting this talk to go any further. "Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me. He's a jerk to everybody."

As if on a cue, everyone heard a voice."Ow! That hurts!" it said. I turned my heard towards the voice and found CRDL pulling on the bunny faunus's ears, laughing.

"Please, stop." The girl pleaded.

"I told you they were real!" Cardin howled.

I felt my hands immediately clench into fists. Before I even knew what I was doing, I was already right behind Cardin, giving Cardin a terrible look. Oh, if looks could kill...

Immediately, Cardin let go of the girl's ear. "...whatever..." was what he said as he and the rest of his team walked away, moving to another side of the cafeteria.

Turning back towards the faunus, I asked her a question. "Are you alright?"

The bunny faunus rubbed her ears, trying to straighten them back out, but otherwise, she seemed fine. "Yes, uh...thank you." She replied, clearly somewhat embarrassed.

"No problem. What's your name?" I didn't need her name, but I figured it was polite to ask.

"Velvet." She answered. "Aren't you the guy that..."

"Killed the nevermore?" I finished for her. I wasn't exactly a big fan of my obliteration of the giant bird being known all across the school, but I couldn't have expected any less, I suppose. Have such an amazing story discovered by kids and by the end of the day, all of their friends are going to know about it.

Velvet picked up her tray and walked to another group of people, presumably her team, and I realized that my angry frown from earlier and transformed into a smile yet again. I walked back to my seat, seeing Ruby wave to me as I walked back, and continued listening to RWBY and JNPR...though it was more like RWBY and NPR, as Jaune had since moved to another part of the cafeteria. I considered talking to him, but he needed his space, and it wasn't my problem in the first place.

"He's a nice guy." Ruby said, clearly trying to direct the conversation to me.

Weiss didn't have as many happy feelings towards me. "I don't trust him." She said in a cold tone.

"Aw, but why not?" Ruby asked.

"He killed a nevermore so eaisly, but had no idea what one was. That doesn't seem fishy to you?"

Yang smirked. "You sure you're not just jealous because he was able to kill a nevermore single-handily?" She mocked.

"Of course not!" Weiss defended herself. "That's a RIDICULOUS assumption to make. Something seems off about him, I've seen that since he first showed up."

"You seemed awfully nice to him when he first showed up." Blake said, not looking up from the book she was reading. She seemed somewhat angry, perhaps she felt the same way as I did about Cardin's bullying.

"Yeah!" Ruby agreed. "You did a little bow when you introduced yourself to him."

"Curtsy." Weiss corrected. "...and it's called being polite. Like it or not, I'm Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, and I have to act like it."

Yang laughed. "I thought you told us you weren't gonna act all high and mighty anymore."

"I said I would be a better teammate." The heiress explained. "...and WHAT exactly am I doing wrong here? Is it wrong to be a little cautious when a mysterious stranger shows up who doesn't know the general customs?"

Ruby shrugged. "I guess it is strange, but I'm sure he means well."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to act on my suspicions yet, but if something happens, I'll be there to say 'I told you so.'".

I wasn't exactly a big fan of how Weiss felt, but I could understand it. Her attitude on the other hand, annoyed me. She acted like she was more important than anyone else, and after what I've had to go through all my life, someone like that annoys me.

Deciding I didn't want to hear the rest of this conversation, I left the cafeteria and went back to my dorm to play with my scroll. Not "play" as in, play games, I still had no idea how I would do something like that, even though I've heard Ruby tell me a million times. I was a smart kid, but when it came to the advanced technology like this, I let my mother handle things. Without her, I just decided to look around, use whatever "apps" I had at the moment and figure things out.

Across my look, I discovered an app that seemed to be for the teams. I figured that it was for how the students were able to tell if their aura was low. For me, all the slots were empty. I remember Glynda Goodwitch telling me about how the scroll used DNA to measure the aura level, but that they didn't have the time to set it up for me. It was probably for the best. My aura level would probably be through the roof, and that would set off some red flags in Ozpin's mind. I didn't want to hear any more questions thrown at me, I just wanted to go back to my home.

Luckily, Ozpin and Goodwitch had laid off the questions since I told them I had nothing to tell, but I could see they were keeping me under watch. They weren't easy to fool, and I wasn't exactly the best liar. What I needed to do was to get my time machine running as soon as possible, but it was clear that even then, I was going to be stuck here for awhile. They didn't have the normal fuel that the time machine used. Dust ran everything here on Remnant, which means that unless I could find someone who wouldn't ask questions and would set my machine to run on dust, I was going to be stuck here for a long, long time.

...what had I gotten myself into?

 **Alright, let's get this out of the way...**

 _ **EVERY SINGLE COMMENT ABOUT ME NERFING TRUNKS:**_ **While I see how I'm wrong on the moon example many of you gave, I'd like to point out that most of everything else was wrong. The supernova didn't "engulf" Vegeta. It was huge, but not planet sized, and thus, it hit the core. Same with the Galick Gun, had it been successful. Aside from the moon, nothing about what I said was dis-proven in the series itself. Also, Beerus and SSJG isn't really worth pointing out, since this is Cell Saga Trunks. One more thing, though. If I made Trunks as powerful as you want me to, the series wouldn't last long, and I wouldn't enjoy writing it, which kind of defies the point of writing to me. I write because it's fun, and I like to see other people enjoying what I enjoy to make. Basically, I'm not changing how I've got things planned, sorry.**

 ** _Wolfenheart:_** **It's just a figure of speech. I'm sure Trunks has heard it before.**

 ** _Guest (Ruby/Trunks shipper):_** **Nope. No shipping aside from canon pairs. I can't write romance very well, so...sorry.**

 ** _Ryanweston123:_** **That's good to hear! I know I can trust your reviews because of that essay of one you gave me in the first chapter, so, thanks!**

 ** _Ben Jones:_** **I can't continue things from here, but still, LOL.**

 ** _Guest (Defending me about Nerfing):_** **Thanks for understanding why I have Trunks weaker. If it makes anyone feel better, Trunks IS still better than most of anyone on remnant. Some people are around his strength, but he'll surpass them eventually.**

 **Next Time, we go to the Forest of Amazing Alliteration!**


	5. Professor Peach

**Sorry for the delay...real life got in the way. This isn't the BEST chapter in the world, but it's really hard to write the season one stuff, especially since Trunks isn't involved in most of it. Once we hit Season 2, I figure it'll be easier to write, but until then, enjoy!**

The past few days had been rather normal. Aside from my small "confrontation", if you can call it that, with Cardin, everything has been good. As good as they could be anyway. Occasionally, I left Beacon to fight some Grimm, it couldn't hurt to keep myself on my toes, but aside from that, I lived in peace.

Peace...it's funny. I've never really gotten to have it. Even in the past, with my father and Goku, we were always training or being prepared for a threat. Be it the Andriods, or Cell...but now, aside from getting back to my own timeline (which was rather serious, but not life-threatening), I didn't have anything to worry about.

I was walking back to my room, when I spotted Jaune standing outside of his team's room, looking odd. I thought about leaving quickly, whatever was bothering Jaune wasn't anything he wanted to talk about, but then I saw Ruby, and I hid behind one of the walls. I don't know why I did that, but perhaps my curiosity got the better of me, and I wanted to see if Ruby could get any details out of Jaune.

"Hey Jaune!" The crimsonette cheerfully replied. Jaune suddenly turned around, surprised, but not angry. "Long time no see! Did you lock yourself out again?"

'Again?' I wondered, but I decided to keep listening. "Uh, nope!" Jaune pulled out his scroll to prove his point. "Got it!"

"So..." Ruby began to ask, apparently having questions of her own for the blond boy. "Where have you been lately?"

Jaune looked away from her, trying to come up with an excuse for his apparent absences, no doubt. "I...uh..." He sighed. "I messed up...I did something I shouldn't have, and now Cardin's got me on a leash, Pyrrha won't even talk to me..."

'Cardin again?' I thought. I hadn't noticed Cardin or his team cause anymore trouble since I saved Velvet in the cafeteria, but I guess the key word was 'see'. Next time I run into that kid, I'm teaching him a lesson! "...I'm starting to think coming to this school was a bad idea." Jaune concluded, hanging his head in shame. He allowed himself to slide down the door-frame, sitting on the floor. "I'm a failure..."

"Nope!" Ruby replied, oddly cheerfully.

Jaune looked up, confused. "No?"

"Nope!" Ruby repeated, going to sit down with the boy. "You're a leader now, Jaune. You're not allowed to be a failure."

"...but what if I'm a failure at being a leader?" Jaune countered.

Ruby turned her head, thinking. "Hm...nope!" She repeated again.

Jaune chuckled a bit. "You know, you aren't the easiest person to talk to about this."

"Nope!" Ruby laughed. "Jaune, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid...you might of even been a failure the first day we met...but you can't be one now. Do you know why?"

Jaune looked confused. "Because...?"

"Because it's not just about you anymore!" Ruby finished. "You've got a team now, Jaune, we both do, and if we fail, we'll just be bringing our team down with us! We've got to put our teammates first, and ourselves second." I smiled, for a kid, she was able to give some sound advice.

"Your team deserves a great leader, Jaune..." Ruby said, walking back into her own room. "...and I think that can be you."

Jaune got up after Ruby left, and prepared to enter his room, but before he could, he was stopped by a beeping from his scroll. He opened it up, and a message began to play that made me furious.

"Hey!" Said a terrible voice. "It's your buddy, Cardin. I know you're probably busy with that dust project I gave you..." It was hard for me to not find Cardin's dorm and blast the doors down, but I managed to stay quiet, and began to listen to the rest of the message. "...but I'm gonna need you to go get some rapier wasps."

Jaune gupled, and while I wasn't nearly as worried (mostly enraged, actually), I knew that rapier wasps were quite the pest here on Remnant. "...and make sure they've got some REAAALLLY big stingers, so don't screw this up!"

Jaune closed the scroll, and walked sadly away. For a small moment, I got worried, I didn't want to get him even more upset by spying on him, so I quickly dashed past him. When I looked behind me, I saw that he noticed a weird wind, but he didn't think about it too much. Poor kid, must be depressed.

When I reached my dorm, I began to think about what I had heard. I knew Jaune wasn't very strong-willed, or at least, he didn't think he was, but what could Cardin have on Jaune that would make him do whatever Cardin needed him to? I guess in the long run, it didn't matter, all I knew was that I was gonna have a LONG talk with Cardin about the scenario when I caught him. I decided to wait until tomorrow, because I knew if I did something in my current mood, I'd probably end up crippling the kid, which, to be fair, he deserved, but he was still a student, and I didn't think Ozpin would approve. I needed to be in a better mind, so I jumped into bed and fell sound asleep.

The next day

I ended up sleeping in, unfortunately, so by the time I had awoken, classes had started, so there wasn't any time to "talk" to Cardin. Part of me wanted to just put it behind me, these kids weren't MY problem, after all, but I couldn't. No matter how small of the threat, I wasn't going to stand by and see innocent people get hurt, and that included bullies like Cardin.

During my daily walk across Beacon, I noticed one of the classrooms was empty. Confused, I almost barged in the room, but I managed to stop myself and, as light as I could manage, knock on the door.

"Come in!" Said a woman on the other side.

Somewhat hesitantly, I opened the door to find a woman with short blond hair. Her dark pink dress came down to the very edge of her legs, just short enough that they wouldn't be a bother in walking. Her black shoes seemed long, thigh length, perhaps, I couldn't really tell. She had a grin on her face, and was sipping some sort of drink out of a mug on her desk. I began to get curious if there was some sort of honorary mug for being a teacher at Beacon, I hadn't met a teacher who didn't have some sort of cup with them, except maybe Glynda.

"Oh!" She said, a look of pleasant surprise on her face. "Trunks, right?"

I nodded. "Yes, that's me."

She nodded towards one of the spare chairs in her office. "Please, take a seat."

"Actually, I just came in to check..." I tried to explain.

"Please, I insist." She replied.

It seemed like a bad idea to talk to ANY of the teachers her at Beacon, and I was clearly able to decline, but my polite nature got the better of me, and I found myself sitting in a student chair talking to this blond haired woman.

"I'm Professor Peach." She explained to me. "The weapons advisor and designer here at Beacon Academy. I'm basically the tech teachers at other, non-combat schools." She chuckled, even though I didn't hear a joke anywhere in her sentence.

"Why aren't there any students here?" I asked. It WAS the reason I came in here, after all.

She smiled. "My students are out in the Forest of Forever Fall. I've assigned them to retrieve some tree sap from there. It's a very volatile substance, almost as useful as dust for weapons."

I was vaguely aware of this fact, I had read it in one of the many books in the library. "Are they aware of that?" I asked. I may not know much about the teachers here, but from what I understand, I wouldn't put it past them to throw students into dangerous situations with little care for safety. It was a sink or swim mentality that I didn't necessary agree with, but I suppose they are the teachers, and no students have died.

"Of course!" She laughed. "...well, there was this pink haired girl that seemed eager to drink the sap, but aside from that."

I shook my head. Nora.

"Funnily enough, I didn't even really get to explain much about it myself. There's been this one crimson haired girl interrupting me all the time. I can't quite remember her name. She's an eager learner, she and her sister remind me of myself."

"Ruby and Yang?" I half-answered.

She snapped her fingers. "Yes! That's them. Ruby's sister isn't quite as interested in this subject as her sister, but...I'm boring you with all of this aren't I?"

I shook my head, but she seemed to ignore me. "Well, anyway, I didn't ask you to come in here to talk about my class. I came to ask about you."

Exactly as I feared. I attempted to dissuade her. "Look, I've already told Ozpin all I can tell him, so if you're trying to get more information out of me I don't have..."

"No, not that. I want to know more about this 'Ki' thing of yours." She interrupted.

Oh. "Did Ruby tell you?"

"Was it wrong if she did?" She chuckled.

"No, no, it's fine..." I sighed. "What is it exactly that you want to know?"

"Anything really. The mere concept of something like aura used differently...it's just kind of exciting, you know?"

I imagined that Goku would feel the same about aura. It interested me too, but not in the same way. Like my teacher Gohan, I was always about learning more, be it about my enemy, or the world in general. Then again, I'm not sure if that's because of Gohan, or the state of the world I lived in.

"Well, it's like I told Ruby. I'm using my life-force to heat up the air around me. Eventually, it turns into a plasma. I don't know how to explain it any better."

She nodded her head, listening. She wasn't lying when she said Ruby reminded her of herself, it seemed like they had the exact same reaction to what I was telling them. I tried to think of something else to explain about Ki. "There's a variety of ways to use that, though. There's several different techniques that I've seen and..."

 _Knock! Knock! Knock!_

The door opened, and I saw several students, RWBY, JNPR, and others walked through the door. Grateful that I was able to leave, I ran out of the room as quickly as I could, muttering a quick "Bye" before exiting. Perhaps I should have talked to Cardin, but that was the wrong place and wrong time. Right then, I just wanted out of the somewhat awkward situation. It wasn't the professor's fault, of course, but the teachers here...I just felt off when I talked to them.

Continuing my original walk down the hall, I took a second to think about my situation. I had been doing it for a while, but this time, I considered that there was a chance that I might not be able to get back to my dimension. Unlike my mother, I wasn't very good with technology. I could use it, but I couldn't build it, and from the looks of things, I'd have to develop something that would use dust as fuel, but to do that by myself, without anyone noticing...that seemed impossible.

Maybe I should stop lying and just tell them who I am and what happened to me. It would certainly make me feel better, heck, it's probably the right thing to do, but who knows what'll happen. No, I couldn't tell them.

...not yet.

 **3 Seasons in and we STILL haven't met Professor Peach. Well I say "NAY!" to that, so I figured I'd introduce her now. I see her personality as a combo of Ruby and Yang. She's very energetic and cocky in battle, but she's a very nice person and is very interested in weapons, hence her teaching occupation. Also, sorry, as much as Trunks WANTS to, he won't get a chance to really give Cardin a piece of his mind. I mean, it'd be fun, but 1. I can't write it. 2. I can't see a point in which it would happen.**

 **Regardless, put your thoughts in a review. Not expecting much positive feedback, but, feedback is feedback.**

 **Nerfing comments:** Look, at this point we'll just have to agree to disagree. I haven't heard a single thing that specifically disproves my THEORY (You know, that thing that isn't an actual fact, and is just how I see things right now) that all planet destruction, at least to the Cell Saga, is core-busting. Besides, Turnks IS better than most people here in Remnant, Ozpin is the only one who could actually fight him at his full power, and even with that, Trunks surpasses him by the end of this story anyway. Also, no, Trunks is not the kind of guy to stand back from a battle and get other people to do it. Trunks saves people, other dimension or otherwise. He cared for the people in the alternate timeline, after all.

 **Ryanweston123:** Yeah, I can see Cardin not backing down. I just, at the time, saw Cardin as the typical schoolyard bully. One who would pick on people when he could pull it off, but back off the second a teacher, or in this case, an angry half-saiyan stepped in. Sadly, there isn't a good time for this confrontation to happen, and we barely see Cardin after the Jaune thing, but, hey, I wasn't gonna end up with a perfect story, and that's fine. Maybe a similar story can take advantage.

 **mike the knight:** No. Trunks. RWBY. Parings. Trust me, it would be fun, I KNOW it would, but I want to keep the canon relationships. Not to mention Trunks wouldn't want to get romantically attached to someone he won't be able to stay with.

 **Ben Jones:** EXACTLY! Thanks.

 **guest (Cliches):** Eh...I don't see what you mean, but to each their own. If you explained a bit more, I could try to fix it.


	6. RWY and B

**Yo! Here's my little apology for being gone for so long! Two chapters, almost back to back!**

 **Now, usually, I do reviews at the end, but I'll make a little exception, since this review influenced the way this chapter was written!**

 **:** That's a very fair perspective, and you're right, it IS dragging a bit, and I'm trying to fix that. The only problem I've had is I didn't feel the need to force Trunks into situations he likely wouldn't get involved in. However, I like your idea of using multiple perspectives, and I'm using that in this chapter. Hope I satisfy you.

 **Ruby Rose**

Another day, another school day, or at least, on 5 days of the week it does. Luckily, today was Friday, so now, with all of our classes done, we finally get a chance to relax. Now, don't get me wrong, I like Beacon, and I like school, but if I had to endure another one of Professor Port's speeches, I don't know what would happen!

The team and I decided to take a walk. Well, more accurately, WEISS decided we should take a walk. We didn't have any better ideas, and it's not like Vale isn't a nice place, so the rest of us just kinda said yes. We were walking past a few buildings, noticing the streamers and balloons everywhere. The Vytal Festival was coming up, and we were all excited. We passed a sign that was being put up welcoming the people coming in from other kingdoms when Weiss stopped.

"The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!" She spoke with glee.

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss." I noted. "It's kinda weirding me out."

The heiress turned around. "How could you NOT smile?" She proclaimed. "A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances, parades, a tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!"

"Ugh..." Yang complained. "You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring."

"Quiet you." Weiss quickly replied.

All 4 of us made a left turn, and Yang continued speaking. "Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon at the stupid docks?"

I pinched my nose, noticing a horrible smell. "Ugh! They smell like fish!" I complained.

"I heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today." Weiss explained. "...and as a representative of Beacon, I feel as if it is my solemn duty to welcome them to fine kingdom."

"She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper-hand in the tournament." Blake added.

"Uh, You can't prove that!" Weiss defended.

As I looked around us, I noticed a building with two police officers and a whole bunch of warning tape. "Whoa." I noticed, and the rest of the team turned towards my line of sight. Together, we walked up to the crime scene. "What happened here?" I asked.

"Robbery." Replied one of the officers. "2nd dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle." After answering me, the officer went back towards the building covered by the warning tape.

"Ugh...that's terrible." Yang announced.

"They left all the money again!" The officer who had spoke to us cried out. "Yeah...just doesn't make a lick of sense. Who needs THAT much dust?"

"I don't know, an army?" Replied the other officer.

"You thinking the, uh, White Fang?"

"Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get paid enough."

As the two officers walked away, Weiss groaned. "The White Fang." She spoke. "What an awful bunch of degenerates."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "What's your problem?" She asked.

"My problem?!" Weiss asked, as if it were obvious. "I simply don't care for the criminally insane."

"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths." Blake crossed her arms. "They're a collection of misguided faunus."

Now Weiss was the one to raise an eyebrow. "Misguided? They want to wipe humanity off the PLANET."

"So they're VERY misguided!" Blake argued. "Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a dust shop, in the middle of downtown Vale."

"Blake's right." Said a familiar voice. I turned my head in glee to see my purple haired friend in his purple jacket.

"Trunks! Hi!" I waved, smiling. "Where ya been? I haven't been able to talk to you all week!"

Trunks rubbed his head. "I've been busy, sorry.". Then he looked at Weiss and Blake. "If it were really the White Fang, they would have taken everything in the shop. Why would they just take dust?"

Weiss stamped her foot. "Oh, like YOU know anything about the White Fang!"

Trunks looked ready to respond, but I cut in. I didn't want any fighting between my friends, even if Weiss didn't exactly trust Trunks. "Besides..." I began. "The police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago. Maybe it was him."

Trunks nodded. He knew what I was talking about because it was one of the things I mentioned when we first met. I couldn't help myself, he had done something so cool, I was excited, and when I'm excited I can't keep my mouth shut.

"THAT doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum." Weiss shouted. "Those faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal!"

"Are you SERIOUSLY generalizing an entire race because of one organization?" Trunks responded, his arms crossed.

"Gener-what now?" I asked, confused about his words, but before he could explain, we all heard something else.

"Hey! Stop that Faunus!" Someone yelled. Immediately, the 5 of us ran (Well, Trunks flew, but that's besides the point.) over to the source of the yell. We saw two kids chasing after a monkey faunus on one of the boats. The faunus leaped onto rail of the boat and turned towards his chasers. "Thanks for the ride, guys!" He laughed, before leaping from the boat onto the docks. He ran across them and leaped onto a lamppost, hanging on his tail.

"You no-good stowaway!" Shouted one of the kids on the boat.

"Hey!" The faunus sounded offended. "A no-good stowaway would of been caught! I'm a great stowaway!" As he spoke, he began to peel into a Banana that I didn't see him with before.

Quickly, he dodged a rock thrown by one of the officers we saw before. The two of them walked towards the post he was one and shouted at him. "Get down from there!" They commanded. The faunus responded by throwing the banana peel at his face. The faunus jumped from the post and continued running away, past the docs and onto the streets of Vale, as the officers chased after him. As he passed us, I could swear I saw him wink at Blake. Weird.

"Well, Weiss, you wanted to see the competition." Yang joked. "...and there it goes."

"Quick, we have to observe him!" Weiss commanded, and we all chased after him, though I think Blake and Trunks were a little hesitant. Before we could catch him, though, Weiss ran into a girl, and the faunus jumped onto one of the buildings.

"No! He got away!" Weiss complained.

"Maybe it was for the best." Said Trunks, while Weiss shot him a look.

"Uh...Weiss." Yang pointed towards the girl that Weiss had knocked over. Currently, our teammate was still laying on top of the poor girl. When Weiss turned around and noticed her, she suddenly jumped backwards.

"Sal-u-tations!" The girl greeted, still on the ground.

"Um...Hello?" I awkwardly responded. I heard Trunks mutter something about something about the girl seeming off.

"Are you...OK?" Yang asked.

The girl nodded. "I'm WONDERFUL! Thank you for asking!"

We all took a look at each other in disbelief, before Yang asked the girl something again. "Do you...want to get up?"

The girl frowned, as if she were thinking for a moment, before smiling again. "Yes!" She decided, getting back to her feet. Everyone except Trunks took a step back.

"I'm Penny!" The girl explained. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hi Penny!" I greeted. "I'm Ruby!"

"I'm Weiss." My partner followed suit.

"Blake." Yang's partner quickly explained.

"I'm Trunks." My purple haired friend smiled, if a bit hesitantly.

"Are you SURE you didn't hit your head?" Yang asked confused, until Blake elbowed her. "Oh! I'm Yang."

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny smiled.

"You already said that..." Weiss responded, obviously very confused.

"...So I did." Penny simply responded.

"Well..." Weiss began to turn around and walk away. "Sorry for running into you."

As Trunks and the rest of my team followed her, I said goodbye. "Take care, friend!"

After we had walked back a bit, Yang tried to start a new talk. "She...was weird." Yang commented.

"Now, where did that Faunus rip-rat go onto!" Weiss yelled, frustrated. I'd bet that Trunks or Blake was going to say something to her when we suddenly noticed someone in front of us. Penny!

"What did you call me?" Penny asked.

Yang suddenly got worried. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't think you would hear me..." Meanwhile, Weiss was turning her head back and forth, clearly confused on how Penny had gotten in front of us.

"No, not you!" Penny clarified, as she started taking steps towards me. "You!"

"Me?" I asked, confused. "I don't know, uh..what I?"

"You called me friend!" Penny exclaimed. "...am I really your friend?"

"Um..." I turned towards my friends. My teammates were all signaling "No!", while Trunks was rubbing his head in confusion, like he had seen something before and could put his finger on what it was. Despite my teammates warnings, I decided it would be rude to say no, so I agreed.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" I nervously chuckled, watching my teammates fall to the floor at the same time. Trunks was the only one still standing, and I wasn't sure if her heard what I said, he seemed to be deep in thought.

She laughed. "SEN-SATIONAL!" She squeed in excitement. "We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!".

I felt quite a bit of Deja-Vu from my first meeting with Weiss. I leaned over to my partner and asked "Was this what it was like when you met me?"

"No." Weiss responded, without a hint of humor in her words. "She seems FAR more coordinated."

"What are you doing here in Vale?" Trunks asked.

"I'm here to fight in the tournament!" Penny answered with pride.

"Wait..." Weiss seemed skeptical. "...you're here to fight in the tournament?"

"I'm combat ready!" Penny yelled, saluting.

"Forgive me..." Weiss commented. "...but you hardly look the part."

"Says the girl in a dress." Blake and Trunks said at the same time. They quickly turned and looked at each other in shock.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "It's a combat skirt." She announced. I dashed over to her and low-fived her.

"Yeah!" I agreed.

"Wait a minute..." Weiss realized something, and grabbed onto Penny. "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey tailed...rapscallion?!" Immediately, I saw Trunks's fists clench, and his teeth grit, as if he was trying his hardest to not say some very unkind words.

"The who?" Penny asked confused. To illustrate, Weiss brought up a sketch of the faunus we saw before. (Don't ask me WHEN she drew that up.)

"Why do you keep saying that!" Blake shouted.

"Huh?" Weiss asked, tilting her head.

"Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a PERSON!" Blake yelled in fury.

Weiss rolled her eyes again. "Oh, I'm sorry, would you like me to stop referring to this trashcan, as a trashcan?! Should I stop calling this lamp-post, a lamp-post?!"

Trunks was the one to get angry this time. "Except you're NOT. You're calling a lamp-post a trashcan. He's a person, and you are treating him like he's not!"

Weiss shook her head. "Oh, don't pretend like you have any idea what you're talking about! You didn't even know what grimm WERE until we explained it to you. You're opinion has NO value in this conversation!"

Weiss turned her head towards Blake, speaking to her before Trunks could respond. "That faunus CLEARLY broke the law. Give him time, and I'm sure he'll join those other faunus in the White Fang."

Blake clenched her fists. "You ignorant little BRAT!" She cried as she stamped off in the opposite direction.

After a bit of a stunned silence, Weiss suddenly got back into "Argue Mode". "How DARE you talk to me that way!" She shouted. "I am your TEAMMATE!" She walked back up to Blake and stopped her from going any further.

"You are a judgemental little girl!" Blake replied.

"What in the WORLD makes you say that?!" Weiss defended.

Yang and I just stared at the two yelling, awkwardly. "Uh...maybe...we should go..." Yang suggested. Suddenly, we heard a loud noise come from behind us, but when we turned around to look, Trunks was gone.

"Oh no, Trunks!" I shouted, worried, but Yang put her hand on my shoulder.

"You've seen what he can do. Whatever happened to him, he'll be fine. For now...let's try and break this fight up."

I nodded. "Right."

 _A Couple Hundred Failed Attempts Later..._

"I don't understand why this is causing SUCH a problem!" Weiss shouted from her bed.

"That IS the problem!" Blake shouted back.

Yang and I were just staring from the other end of the room, not comfortable getting into our own beds while the two were fighting.

"You realize you are defending an origination that hates humanity, don't you?" Weiss seemed to change her tactics in the argument. "The faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!"

Blake suddenly stood up. "There's NO such thing as pure evil!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. "Why do you THINK they hate humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin. People like YOU, that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"

"People like me?" Weiss asked, alarmed.

"You're discriminatory!" Blake explained.

"I'm a VICTIM!" Weiss countered. The two suddenly got quiet for a moment, until Weiss started talking again. "You want to know WHY I despise the White Fang? WHY I don't particularly trust the faunus?". Weiss started walking towards a window, and leaned on it. "It's because they've been at war with my family for years."

"War." She continued. "...as in, actual. Bloodshed. My grandfather's company has had a target pained across it's back for as long as I can remember. Ever since I was a child, i've watched family friends disappear, board members executed, and an entire train car FULL of dust, stolen...and EVERY day, my father would come home furious...and that made for a very...difficult...childhood."

I felt bad for Weiss, so I tried to walk up to her and put my hand on her shoulder. "Weiss..." I tried to start, but she knocked my hand away.

"NO!" She shouted, turning her head back towards Blake. "You want to know WHY I despise the White Fang?! It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and MURDERERS!"

Blake quickly snapped at her. "Well _maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!_ "

Then everything got quiet, and I could tell Yang, Weiss and I were thinking the exact same thing. _"We?"_.

It didn't take Blake long to figure out what she said. "I...I..." She stammered, trying to come up with some sort of explanation, but when she realized she couldn't she quickly ran out of the room.

"Wait! Come back!" I shouted, trying to come after her, but it was too late. By the time I even noticed she ran, she was long gone.

 **Trunks Briefs**

I had ran off to blow off steam. I started in the forest, punching and killing as many grimm as I could, which was probably for the best, considering the fact that if I didn't, my emotions would probably attract a giant horde of grimm to Vale anyway. After I finally managed to cool down a bit, I flew back to Beacon, and tried to sleep. When it became clear I couldn't, I decided to go fly outside of the building, get some nice air and clear my head.

...but when I saw Blake running with tears in her eyes, there wasn't any way I could ignore it.

I followed her from a safe distance, and saw her stop at one at of the many stone statues Beacon has. She starred at the statue for a moment, before slowly maneuvering her hands to her bow. Carefully, she pulled the knot that kept it on apart, revealing a pair of cat ears.

She was a faunus.

I really shouldn't have been surprised, from the start I had noticed that her Ki was different from the others. I should have put two and two together when I saw that monkey faunus wink at Blake, and it should have been obvious when I noticed that the two had the same type of ki, but somehow, the idea never came into my brain until now.

"I knew you would look better without the bow." Said a voice. The same one as the monkey faunus back at the docks. I had known he was there the entire time, of course, but I felt that checking on Blake was bit more important than confronting him. He hadn't performed that bad of a crime, regardless.

I considered going down to help Blake, but I realized that, whatever happened to her with the rest of RWBY, the only person to comport her right now was one of her own. My decision made, I dashed back into my quarters. Perhaps Blake and the monkey faunus would hear a loud noise, and feel some hard wind, but aside from that, there's no evidence I was there at all.

 **There we go! Pretty long chapter, and I tried something different. Tell me in a review if you like the different perspectives, or if you don't. Now, on to the rest of the reviews. I don't have many, since I got this chapter done so fast.**

 **Nerfing Comments:** I've come to a conclusion. There is NO way I can tell the story I want to tell, and please the people who don't like Trunks being weaker. Even if Trunks is still better than pretty much everyone (and this is only in his current state of power.), no, Trunks needs to be able to kill Cinder in two seconds, which would be a pretty boring finale. Remember how awesome Season 3 was? Nope, Cinder dies THE SECOND she reveals her plan. Trunks training people and staying out of the fight wouldn't work either, because that's just not how Trunks works.

I'm not responding to these, and if I get another guest review that's just bashing me for nerfing, it's not getting accepted. Why? Because I don't count it as valid criticism. I've already said no, so telling me again, accomplishes nothing. The last thing I ask for is a list of the cliches I'm using. I'm not saying I DON'T use them, I'm saying, I didn't notice. If I get another response of "You should know", then I'm going to have to assume you're lying. Sorry.

 **Ben Jones:** Thanks man! I'm trying!

 **RyanWeston123:** I could have extended the scene with Peach, but Trunks obviously wouldn't want to be here, and I couldn't think of anything else for them to talk about at the time. Trunks has gotten a bit more involved now, and he'll finally get to fight again next episode, so YAY!


	7. Light the Torch

**Alright guys, here we freaking go! It's been a little bit, not over a week, but just about, and I've been working on this chapter ALL week for you guys. I'm still amazed at the support I get from you guys! Thank you so much!**

Here's hoping I impress you, I dare say this is my best chapter yet!

 **Blake Belladonna**

 _Two Days Later_

"So..." I said, surprising my monkey tailed acquaintance. "...you want to know more about me?"

It's been two days since I ran from the rest of my teammates. It wasn't ideal, I didn't want to run from them in the first place, but when they learned my secret I didn't know what to do. I had to run, I had to get away. That's where I met Sun, the monkey faunus the rest of my team saw earlier that day. When I met him, I felt the need to run with him for now, until I figured out what to do. Unfortunately, I still have no idea how to face my friends after what I said and did. So for now, I stay hidden.

"Finally, she speaks!" Sun cried, raising his hands in the air. "It's been nearly two days and you've been giving me nothing but small talk and weird looks!"

I frowned.

"Yeah, like that". He added.

I rolled my eyes, and attempted to get our conversation back on the correct track. "Sun..." I asked, not quite looking forward to the answer. "...are you familiar with the White Fang?"

Sun nodded. "Of course! I don't think there's a faunus on the planet who hasn't heard of them. Stupid, holier-than-thou creeps who use force to get whatever they want! Bunch of freaks, if you ask me."

I took a sip of my drink, before calmly responding. "I used to be a member of the White Fang."

Sun reacted the way I expected, spitting out his drink in shock. Coughing, he responded in disbelief. "Wait a minute, YOU were a member of the White Fang?!"

"That's right." I confirmed. "I was a member for most of my life actually. You could almost say I was born into it."

I sighed, continuing my explanation. "Back then, things were different. In the ashes of war, the White Fang was supposed to be a symbol of peace and unity between humans and faunus. Of course, despite being promised equality, the faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate. Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings."

"So...the White Fang rose up as the voice of our people. I was there, I was at the front of every rally. I took part in every boycott...and I actually thought we were making a difference...but I was just a youthful optimist.

"Then, five years ago, our leader stepped down, and a new leader took his place. A new leader, with a new way of thinking. Suddenly, our peaceful protests were being replaced by organized attacks. We were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us. Hijacking cargo from companies that used faunus labor...and the worse part is, it was working. We were being treated as equals, but not out of respect...out of fear."

I placed by cup back on the table. "So I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence, and instead, I would dedicate my life to becoming a huntress. So, here I am. A criminal hiding in plain view, all with the help of a little, black, bow." I wiggled my cat ears to emphasize my point.

"So..." Sun asked, his joking nature gone. "...have you told your friends any of this?"

 **Trunks Briefs**

The city of Vale was an interesting place. It had plenty of things to see, plenty of places to shop, and overall, it was a very pleasant place to be in. I found myself flying overhead it just for the view far more often then I really needed to, but I was glad I did on this particular day. When I floated back down to the ground, I saw Team RWBY...but they seemed to be missing a member.

"Blake!" Ruby called out.

"Blaaaake!" Yang repeated.

"Blake! Where are you?!" Ruby yelled once more, before turning over to Weiss. "Weiss, you're not helping!"

"Oh?" Weiss responded in a cold, yet sincere, tone. "You know who MIGHT be able to help? The police."

Ruby crossed her arms and frowned. "Weiss..." She muttered. It was odd seeing the red-head get angry, she was usually so perky and optimistic. I flew down to the trio.

"Blake still hasn't come back yet?" I asked, puzzled. I was sure that two days would be more than enough time for Blake to recover. Why hadn't she returned?

"Yeah!" Ruby confirmed. "She's been gone for two...wait...how'd you know she was gone?"

"I saw her run off the other day." I responded, maybe a little too quickly. "...but I figured she would have come back by now. What happened?"

"It seems our 'friend' is in collusion with the White Fang." Weiss answered, cold as ever.

 _"What?"_ I thought. Blake was a faunus, I saw that two days ago, but being in the White Fang? No, there must be more to it than that.

Yang interjected. "Weiss, I think we should hear HER side of the story before we jump to any conclusions."

"I think when you hear it, you'll ALL realize I was right." Weiss responded.

"And I think Weiss's hair looks WONDERFUL today!" Said a voice I recognized.

"AH!" Ruby turned around. "Penny, where did you come from?!"

"Hey guys!" Penny said, ignoring Ruby's question. "What are you up to?"

"Uh..." Ruby stuttered.

"We're looking for our friend, Blake." Yang explained.

"Ooooh!" Penny replied. "You mean the faunus girl!"

"Wait..." Ruby realized. "How did YOU know that?"

"Uh, the cat ears." Penny answered, pointing to the tip of her head as if she had, well, cat ears.

"What cat ears?" Yang asked, confused. "She wears a...bow..."

The rest of RWBY slowly realized how obvious the conclusion should have been, and there was an awkward silence for a moment.

"She does like tuna a lot..." Ruby whispered.

"So, where is she?" Penny asked. I barely kept my palm from smacking my face.

"We don't know." Ruby answered. "She's been missing since Friday."

Penny gasped. "That's TERRIBLE!" She cried, grabbing Ruby by her arms. "Well don't you worry, Ruby my friend! I won't rest until we find! Your! Teammate!". The girl nodded her head for those last few words, to emphasize them, I could only assume.

"That's really nice of you, Penny..." Ruby said, awkwardly. "...but we're OK, right guys?"

Ruby and I turned our head to find that Yang and Weiss had left without us. This time, I couldn't resist the urge, and my palm met my face.

 **Blake Belladonna**

"So, what's the plan now?" Sun asked, walking to my side. We had began walking around Vale just awhile ago, but I suppose Sun felt we needed to get back to talking about the robberies that the White Fang supposedly committed.

I stuck my hand on my chin, thinking. "I still don't believe the White Fang is behind these robberies." I explained. "They've never needed that much dust before..."

Sun suddenly perked up. "What if they did?" He questioned, walking up in front of me. "I mean...the only way to prove that they DIDN'T do it...is to go to the place where they would most likely go to if they WERE to do it...and not find them there! Right?"

Ignoring Sun's incredibly oddly worded idea, I answered. "The only problem is that I have no idea where that might be."

"Well, when I was on the ship, I heard some guys talking about offloading the HUGE shipment of dust coming in from Atlas."

"How huge?" I asked.

"Huge." He explained, separating his arms for emphasis. "Big Schnee Company freighter"

"You're sure?" I asked, a plan already forming in my mind.

 **Trunks Briefs**

"So..." Penny continued to ask questions to my crimson-haired friend. "...Blake is your friend?"

"Yes, Penny." Ruby answered, letting out a sigh of annoyance.

"...and you're mad at her?" Penny asked, puzzled.

I simply walked in the back, my eyes shut. _"Blake...in the White Fang?"_ I thought to myself. It didn't make sense, but somehow at the same time, it did. She always seemed so secretive, almost like me, but I didn't understand what she had to hide. Two days ago, I figured it was her being a faunus, which made sense. She didn't want to be subjugated to the discrimination that faunus get in this world. Now, though, I know it was more than that. She's a part of the White Fang...no, she can't be a part of it. Not right now, at least. I may not have seen what went down the other day, but I could tell Blake's crying was real. If she really WAS in the White Fang, she must have left it by now.

"Yes...well, I'm not, Weiss IS." Ruby explained to her orange haired "friend". I still didn't understand why Penny felt so...off. I guessed it was just the way she moved and spoke, but it felt like it was more than that. Her Ki felt...different. Not like Ruby, or even Blake's. Like it was something all on it's own.

"Is SHE friends with Blake?" Penny questioned.

"Well, that's kinda up in the air right now." Ruby responded.

"But why?" The orange haired girl wondered.

"Well...you see..." Ruby attempted to explain. "Blake might not be who we thought she was."

Penny gasped. "Is she a MAN?" She asked. Once again, something seemed off about this girl.

"No, No, Penny, she's not a man" Ruby answered, waving her hands to signify "no". "...I don't know what she is. She didn't exactly tell us much before she ran off."

"I don't have a lot of friends..." Penny mused. "...but if I did, I'd want them to talk to me about things!"

Ruby stared at the floor. "Me too." She added, sighing.

Suddenly, I sensed something odd. A whole bunch of faunus were coming towards the location I sensed Blake at. I had known where she was this entire time, but really, I just wanted Blake to come back to her team herself. Her team finding her likely would have just made the situation worse...but this wasn't right. Why would there be such a large group of faunus heading towards...

Then I realized the obvious conclusion.

The White Fang was committing another robbery.

 **Blake Belladonna**

I laid on the roof of one of the many buildings around this area. Sun and I had decided to scout the area where the dust was shipped to watch out for the White Fang, but a bit ago, Sun said he had to run off for a second. That just left me for the next few minutes.

"Did I miss anything?" The monkey faunus asked when he returned.

"Not really." I explained. "They've offloaded all the crates from the boat. Now they're just sitting there."

"Cool." Sun said, pulling out a green apple and offering it to me. "I stole you some food!" He explained happily.

"Do you always break the law without a second thought?" I deadpanned.

"Hey, weren't you in a cult or something?" He argued.

I frowned at him.

"OK, too soon..." Sun replied, directing his eyes back towards the crates, then we both heard the sound of an aircraft flying by. We ducked our heads down, both to protect ourselves from the sudden light that shone near us, and to avoid the wind. Once the wind and the light had moved a bit away, we both peeked out above us to see an aircraft, it's headlights facing the crates that held the offloaded dust. As it slowly landed near the crates, the headlights turned off, and the doors opened, revealing several people with grimm masks.

"Oh no..." I said, noticing the White Fang symbol on their clothing.

"Is that them?" Sun asked.

"Yes..." I said, my voice a little higher than usual. "It's...them."

As the White Fang members walked out of the aircraft, the one in the back made an order. "Alright," He yelled. "Grab the tow cables."

"You really didn't think they were behind it, did you?" Sun questioned.

"No..." I explained. "I think I knew...I just didn't want to be right."

"Hey! What's the holdup?" Said a voice that shocked and confused me. When I looked up, I saw something unexplainable.

Roman Torchwick.

Using his cane, he walked out of the plane, barking out orders. "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous group of thieves at the moment, So why don't you animals try to pick up the pace?!"

"This isn't right." I mused. "The White Fang would NEVER work with a human. Especially not one like that."

Immediately, I jumped off the building, ignoring Sun's warnings, and rolled from the ground to my feet. Running towards Torchwick's location, I took out my blade, having it at ready. I hid behind one of the crates, watching Torchwick for a second.

"No, you idiot!" He yelled at a faunus with a rope. "This isn't a leash!"

He was distracted, now was my chance. Quickly as I could, I ran behind the criminal and stuck my blade to his neck, not stabbing him, but not being far off.

"What the...?" He yelled, before he noticed me. "Oh, for fu..."

"Nobody move!" I interrupted. The faunus around Torchwick, had their weapons on me, so I removed my bow, revealing myself as one of them.

"Brothers of the White Fang!" I yelled out, hoping I could get them to reason. "Why are you aiding this scum?!"

Roman chuckled. "Kid, didn't you get the memo?" He asked.

"What are you talking about?!" I demanded.

"The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together." He explained. In response, I moved my blade closer to his throat.

"Tell me what it is, or I'll put an end to your little 'operation'". I threatened.

Suddenly, I felt more wind hit me. I closed my eyes to protect them, but I heard Roman bragging. "I wouldn't exactly call it a 'little' operation." He laughed.

I managed to open my eyes again, and saw in the sky two more aircraft carriers, obviously carrying more White Fang members and more weapons. Before I could say anything else, Roman moved his cane, which doubled as a flare gun, and shot a blast, knocking me several feet backwards.

"Ooof!" I cried out as I hit the floor. When I looked in front of me, I saw Roman pointing his cane at me, ready for another shot. As quickly as I could, I rolled backwards, dodging the shot, but he wasn't done. I kept rolling, dodging the second shot he fired, but then I dodged to the right, dodging his third, and upward, shot. He kept shooting, as fast as possible, but I managed to dodge the rest by somersaulting backwards. He shot one more time, and I was ready to use my semblance to dodge it, but before I could, someone took the shot for me.

"Trunks?" I asked, bewildered.

 **Trunks Briefs**

"What in the blazes?!" Yelled the criminal I was facing. Roman Torchwick was confused, amazed, and probably frightened at what I had just done.

When I saw Blake fighting Roman, who I recognised from the news and Ruby's description, I knew I had to jump in and end this fight as quickly as possible, but before I could so much as fly down, I saw Roman bombard Blake with flare gun shots. Blake was dodging them well, but I knew the faunus couldn't dodge forever, so I jumped in the way of one of Roman's shots, taking it straight to myself.

...yet I stayed on my feet.

"Who the heck are you?!" Roman yelled, bewildered.

"My name is Trunks." I explained to the red haired man. "...and this fight ends NOW."

Suddenly, I heard the doors of the aircrafts behind me open up. When I turned my head, just enough that I could see if Roman tried to shoot me in the back, I saw tons of White Fang members leap out. It was clear I was outnumbered.

...but I wasn't outmatched.

"Well, you animals can handle our new visitor, and I'll go look for our kitty-cat intruder." Roman laughed, his composure returning...at least until a banana fell on his hat, knocking it in front of his eyes. He groaned, removing the banana peel, fixing his hat, and looking towards the sky...before getting stomped by the monkey faunus I had seen two days ago.

"Leave them alone." He demanded, rolling to his feet.

Quick as a rabbit, Roman pointed his cane at the faunus. "You are NOT the brightest banana in the bunch, are ya, kid?"

I was worried for the faunus, but when I saw Blake rush Roman from behind, I decided to direct my worries to the faunus surrounding me. They had weak aura levels, and I was in a rush to take down Torchwick, so I poured a large chunk of my power out of me, knocking out my attackers with a shock-wave of wind. The White Fang members now a non-issue, I dashed towards Torchwick, knocking him down with a hard kick. Before I could follow up, though, Blake rushed past me.

"He's MINE!" She yelled, her gambol shroud sword in hand. She swung at the criminal, but Roman blocked it with his cane. Blake repeated herself, aiming lower, but Roman blocked again. Fortunately, he was so distracted, he didn't notice the monkey faunus, Sun, as I was later told his name was, catapulting himself with his red staff towards Roman, knocking Torchwick down with a hard kick.

When Torchwick got up, he noticed both Blake and Sun were standing over where a loading crate was hanging. A plan now in his head, he shot his flare gun at the wire holding up the crate, letting gravity take the large crate to the ground. The two faunus managed to dodge it, but Roman tried to run off. I dashed towards him, faster the human eye can see, and stopped him from progressing.

Once more, Roman looked bewildered. "How did you...?"

"It's OVER Roman." I interrupted. "Just give up, now.

Torchwick chuckled, clearly trying to keep calm in the situation. I saw him put his hand in his pocket, as if he was grabbing something. "Well, I'm thrilled you know me, but..." He started to say, but he was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Hey!" Ruby said, standing on top of one of the buildings. Roman immediately turned his attention towards her.

"Oh, hello Red!" He taunted. "Isn't it past your bedtime?"

Then, I saw Penny standing behind my crimson-cloaked friend. "Ruby..." She began to ask. "...are these people your friends?"

Ruby looked back at Penny, worried. "Penny, get back..." She warned. Roman saw an opportunity, and before I could register what was happening, fired a flare at Ruby, knocking her down. Roman laughed, but I knocked him to the floor with a heavy punch to the face. If I wasn't trying to hold back to keep him alive, he would have probably been knocked out, at least, but unfortunately, he was still conscious. I began to run towards him, but then I noticed Penny had stepped up in front of Ruby. I looked at the orange haired girl, wondering what she was thinking.

"Penny, no!" Ruby yelled.

"Don't worry, Ruby." Penny reassured the red-head. "I'm combat ready!"

With these words, the backpack she was wearing opened up, revealing several swords being held up by strings. The girl leaped off the building, knocking down some of the White Fang members that had come in an reinforcements. Her leap surprised me, it was far higher and longer than her build seemed to imply that it would have been. When she landed, she began using her swords to knock down the White Fang faunus that tried to attack her. Then she used her blades to pull herself back to the side of the building, and had the swords rotate around her, and a green, ki like ball of energy formed in side the circle the blades were making.

When I felt the energy the blades were making though, it almost made me sick to my stomach. I had only felt that kind of ki one other place.

...the Androids.

I shook off the thought that Penny was robotic, I could sense she had an aura. It's probably just artificial energy that her swords can create, but it certainly shocked me to see energy like that here on Remnant. When the blades finished charging the ball, Penny fired it, cutting the two aircrafts still in the air. The third, and final aircraft, Penny attacked by stabbing it with her blades. Using the wires the swords connect to, she slowly pulled it out of the air, before dragging it down as hard as she could, throwing the plane to the floor, destroying it.

I was amazed. It wasn't entirely impressive, I had seen insane power before in Goku and Gohan, but I wasn't expecting this from anyone on Remnant. I was right for thinking Penny was different, but I was wrong to think it was a bad thing.

"These kids just keep getting weirder..." I heard Roman Torchwick say.

I directed my head towards him, and saw the criminal trying to sneak onto one of the planes that were still on the ground. Quickly, I dashed in front of him, blocking his way.

"I told you, Torchwick, it ends here." I informed him. "You're NOT leaving."

I saw him dig in his pocket again. "Is that so?" He asked, a smirk on his face. He threw some sort of ball at me, and in confusion, I caught it.

When I took a look at it, it started pulsing out a green gas. Before I was completely enveloped in the gas, I saw Roman dart his way besides me, and into the plane. My eyes were burning from the gas, probably tear gas, but knowing this world it could be something else entirely. Eventually, I felt the gas start to blow away, perhaps from the plane flying off, or maybe it was just the natural wind, but I was able to recover. My eyes still burned, but I was able to open them. Unfortunately, the plane, and Roman, were nowhere in sight.

 _30 Minutes Later_

The police had arrived, but there was nothing for them to handle by the time they had gotten there, aside from the halves of the airships Penny had knocked out of the sky. Ruby, Blake, Penny, Sun and I sat on wooden crates we found around the crime scene, simply waiting for the police to finish their job so we could head back to Beacon, and by extension, home.

When Weiss and Yang showed up, there was a clear uneasy feeling in the air. Ruby immediately tried to resolve the tension the heiress and Blake had, running up in between them, rapidly trying to explain.

"Look Weiss, it's not what you think, she explained the whole thing, you see she doesn't actually wear a bow, she has kitty ears, and they're actually kind of cute." Ruby spoke, talking like a motor-mouth. Weiss, predictably, walked right on past her, and up to Blake.

Blake, surprisingly, didn't seem all that uncomfortable, as if she had figured out what she wanted to say hours ago. "Weiss, I want you to know that I am no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with..."

Then Weiss interrupted her. "Stop." She commanded. "Do you have ANY idea how long we've been searching for you?"

Blake simply stood there, clearly not having an answer. "12 hours." Weiss answered her own question. "That means I've had 12 hours to think about this, and in that 12 hours, I've decided...I don't care."

"You don't care?" Blake asked, confused.

"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?" Weiss asked.

"No, I haven't been since I was younger..." Blake tried to explain, but Weiss cut her off.

"Upp, Upp, Upp!" She shouted, lifting her hand up. "I don't want to hear it. All I want to know is that the next time something THIS big comes up, you'll come to your teammates, and not some..." Weiss stopped for a moment, looking at Sun, sighing. "...someone else.

Inadvertently, I smiled. I knew Weiss hadn't completely changed, but it was a start. I was willing to put up with her for the time being, at least for the rest of RWBY's sake.

Blake meanwhile, had a tear grow in her eye. As she wiped it, she responded. "Of course." She nodded towards her teammate.

Weiss smiled in response. Ruby looked at her two teammates back and forth for a minute, before rasing her arm in victory. "Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!" She shouted, doing a little dance.

As Sun walked up to the group, Weiss immediately turned towards the faunus. "I'm still not quite sure how I feel about you!" She announced. I chuckled a bit, as I thought, it's just a start.

Sun, meanwhile, just gave out a nervous chuckle. Then Ruby noticed something odd. "Wait a minute..." She questioned. "Where's Penny?"

I turned around, and sure enough, Penny was gone. Quickly, I looked for her energy signal, and sensed it, just a bit away. Focusing my energy on listening to that specific location, I heard a conversation Penny was having with someone, presumably her father.

"You should know better, than to go running around in a strange city." Said the presumed father.

"I know sir..." Penny apologized.

I heard a car engine rumble, clearly the two were driving away. Just before they got out of range of my ears, I heard one last thing from the father. "Penny, your time will come."

 _"Interesting"_ I thought. Perhaps there was something about the girl that I missed, but for now, I couldn't dwell on that. Not on this bittersweet, and yet overall happy, moment.

...yet, there was still something digging in the back of my mind. I had no doubt that Roman Torchwick was a criminal mastermind who could pull off these robberies, but what he want this much dust for? Even the craziest criminals have a motive, and Roman wouldn't have much of a purpose for this dust, and even if he did, it wouldn't have been worth working with the White Fang.

I got the sneaking suspicion...someone was backing him up.

 **Trunks, shut up, you'll ruin the story!**

 ***Ahem* Dear god, that took forever! Looking at Black and White, I must have watched that episode at least 5 times for this chapter alone, probably way more. Well, anyways, on to reviews.**

 **RyanWeston123:** Yeah...that's what happens when I get ahead of myself, I make mistakes. Still glad you enjoyed the chapter overall, though! Hope I proofread better this time.

 **Guest:** Fair view point, but in my head, Trunks is the kind of person who would not stand for bullying or racism, for a NUMBER of reasons. Freeza being a racist towards Saiyans, and the Androids treating the death of humans like a game probably instilled some of that in him.

 **Ben Jones:** Spoiler. You won't have to wait long.

 **mad thought:** My official response is...maybe. Not yes, but not no, either. *wink*

 **coronadomontes:** I THINK I did what you said. Care to explain a little better?

 **Qrow's Talon (Both Reviews):** First off, thanks! Glad to hear positive feedback, even though I love to be yelled at for my screw-ups too. (though once is enough, I get it guys!) To answer on why Trunks is worried about letting out too much, Trunks doesn't want to screw much up, and really, just wants to get back home with little attention on himself. Next chapter, though, he'll realize that he's not going home for quite a bit.

 **I'm itching to write the next chapter! Not because it starts Season 2, because it doesn't. It's gonna be a bridge chapter between the two seasons! I've already said too much, so I'll see you next week, or sooner.**


	8. Super Saiyan Swagger

**HOLY MOLEY! Sorry it's been awhile, and I'm sorry this intro's got to be short (I'm writing this part JUST before I go to bed.), but this is why it took so long. This chapter is long, OVER 6,000 words alone. So..yeah. Enjoy. I guess.  
**

 **There might be a mistake or two, but I'll be sure to correct them tomorrow.**

 **Ruby Rose**

"Alright, today's the day!" I announced to the rest of my team.

"...for what?" Yang asked, completely confused.

"We've gonna track down Trunks!" I reminded my sister. "Remember? We planned this out a couple days ago!"

The first quarter of Beacon had ended only a couple days ago, and for now, the students were all on a short break. I had made a checklist of things I had wanted to do, and so far I had completed two items on it.

Send letter to dad? Check.

Have a talk with Professor Peach? Check.

Figure out why Trunks leaves every day? "In progress" I added as a side note when I checked the list this morning.

"Have you finally figured out a real plan?" Weiss asked.

"What else is there to plan?" I wondered. "It's really simple in theory, we just track Trunks down and ask him."

"The chances of that working are...'unlikely'." My partner responded.

"I still don't quite understand why we need to know in the first place." Blake commented. Ever since I brought up the idea, she was against it. It's not like I didn't understand it, but...

"Blake, you hiding things from us just caused more problems." Weiss reminded Blake. "With Trunks, it could be even worse!"

Blake crossed her arms "You've had it out for Trunks since he got here."

I pouted. "Can we please stop fighting about this? Look, I don't want to spy on Trunks or anything, I just want to figure out where he keeps going. If he yells at us, fine, we'll stop, but...you know?"

"So, sis, do you care to remind me what we're doing?" Yang asked.

I sighed, but quickly smiled. I couldn't stay, or even BE mad at my sister. "Well, from what Weiss has figured out..." I started, pausing when I heard Blake growl. "...Trunks heads to the Forest of Forever Fall every day, an hour from now."

"So..." I continued, pulling out a drawing I had made of Vale. "We're going to follow this route." I pointed towards a red line I had used to signify the way we'd go through the forest. "We'll keep near Trunks, but we'll stay hidden. We have to be quiet, so no stepping on branches, no talking, and no stubbing our toes."

Everyone looked at Yang.

"What?" She asked. "I can be sneaky when I want to."

"Just because shouting and sneaky start with the same letter, doesn't mean they're the same word." Weiss snarked. Yang frowned.

"Well, anyways..." I continued, getting back on track, "With all this in mind, are we ready?"

"Of course." Weiss calmly responded.

"Duh!" Yang shouted.

"Fine..." Blake responded.

"Alright!" I cried, having all of us put our hands together. "1...2...3!"

"TEAM RWBY!" We all shouted.

 **Trunks Briefs**

 _One Hour Later_

I was seated on a stump, one that had long since been removed from the rest of it's tree. For the past week, I had come here to get away from everyone, from the lie I had been telling since I came to Remnant. Part of me considered just telling everyone the truth, and every single day that part of me grew larger and larger, yet I still hadn't built up the strength to tell them.

It's funny, with all of my power, I couldn't work up the strength to tell the strange truth.

...but in my defense, everything hit me so fast, I'm still recovering. I can only hope mother's doing alright, with the android threat going on. Even when I fix my time machine, it's not very precise. Who knows what the Androids will do while I'm...

My thoughts were interrupted by a sickening growl...Damn it.

Immediately, I got into my fighting stance, turning around to find 3 Ursai standing in my wake. Quickly, I jumped over one of the Ursai, grabbing it's head as I flipped. My enemy in hand, I flung it at one of the Ursai, killing them both. As I landed, I fired a ki wave of energy through the chest of the last remaining ursai. My enemy's vanquished, I smirked, only to hear even more growls.

Once again, I turned around, and came to find far more than a few Ursai. Grimm of all shapes a sizes. Beowolves, Ursai, even some Boarbatusks, all gunning for me. Perhaps this was going to be a little tougher than I thought.

Ready for a fight, I wait for one of the grimm to make the first move, and that came in a beowolf leaping towards me. I was ready to counterattack, but before I could, the creature fell apart into two pieces, revealing someone else behind it.

"Ruby?!" I asked, bewildered, "Why are you here? Were you following me?!"

Ruby looked embarrassed. "...well, this is awkward."

I looked behind Ruby, and saw that the rest of her team, Weiss, Blake, and Yang, were all fighting the army.

"You were ALL following me?!" I yelled, confused. "Why?!"

Ruby rubbed her head, as if there wasn't a large horde of grimm behind her. "We were trying to figure out what you were doing, leaving everyday..."

They...what...?

I really shouldn't have been surprised, especially from the overly curious Ruby. Hiding things from these kids was just going to make them search for answers, and because of that, they were cleaning up a mess I made...regardless of if they could beat this army by themselves, I had made my decision.

Leaping into the battle, I quickly dismantled the Grimm the rest of RWBY were attacking, turning to the group when I was done. "All of you, get behind me!" I shouted towards them.

Of course Weiss was the first, and only one to object. "Why should we listen to you?" She asked, defiantly. "For all we know, this is part of a plan to..."

I wasn't going to pretend to be nice to Weiss right now. "I SAID GET BEHIND ME!" I repeated, in a sterner voice and at a higher volume. This time, even Weiss knew to listen, and the 4 girls backed away from the Grimm army and myself.

The girls out of the way, I took a sigh of relief...and then began to transform.

The first thing I felt was the warmth. When I first unlocked this power, the heat burned, but now it was a comforting warmth, like a nice hot shower. The next thing was my hair beginning to spike up on it's own. I felt the tingle in my eyes and hair that I knew meant that my eyes had becomed a green color, and my hair a golden blond.

My transformation complete, I looked straight into the grimm army my thoughts had summoned. A moment ago, the grimm were fully content with rushing me, but now, they stood there, as if they were hesitant.

"Whoooah..." Ruby whispered to her team. "...are the grimm...scared?"

Weiss might have responded, I'm not sure, as the wind filled my ears as I dashed towards a line of Beowolves, punching through all of them at once. Quickly, I fired a ki beam towards a pack of Ursai, annihilating them. A boarbatusk attempted to charge me, but I responded by slamming my first on the creature, shattering it's "unbreakable" armor. Removing my fist from the soulless monster, I turned my attention to the other boarbatusks, and threw out my palm, knocking the grimm creatures into the branches of nearby trees, impaling them.

I felt a small sting hit me. An ursa trying to get in a shot at me. I merely smirked, before ripping the monster's arm off, and kicking it's head straight off it's shoulders. Quickly I turned towards the remaining grimm, and stuck out my hand, charging my energy.

"Burning STORM!" I cried, firing rapid ki-blasts towards my enemies, destroying the few that were left.

I took a minute to observe the smoking remains of the grimm army, before allowing myself to power down. The heat went away, my hair went back down, and I felt another tingle in my eyes. I turned my head back towards RWBY, all of whom had different expressions on their face. "I guess I've got some explaining to do..." I told them.

"Well, OBVIOUSLY!" Weiss yelled, both amazed, and shocked, but not in a good way.

"What...was that...?" Blake was merely confused, almost speechless.

"THATWASSOCOOL!" Ruby yelled, incredibly excited.

"You...you stole my thing!" Yang yelled, confused and bewildered.

Aside from Yang's response, which I didn't understand at the time, they all reacted about the way I expected them to. I chuckled nervously for a moment, before turning serious.

"Look." I told them. "Let's just head back to Beacon, and I'll explain everything. To everyone."

The group looked at each other, and, somewhat hesitantly (Ruby not included), nodded their heads. "Ok!" Ruby answered.

 **Ruby Rose**

 _A few hours later..._

I stood, trying to find a comfortable spot among the large crowd of people. Our attention was set on the large stage here in Beacon Academy, the same place Ozpin had addressed the students on my first day here. When my team and Trunks made it back to Beacon, Trunks immediately bolted towards Ozpin's office. A couple minutes later, Ozpin said over the loudspeaker that we were having a sudden assembly, and when I saw Trunks on the stage with the teachers, I didn't need to be a genius to put two and two together.

A sudden noise over the speakers brought everyone's attention to the stage. Ozpin was about to say something.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to keep this brief." He said in his usual tone of voice, as if the situation wasn't anything exciting. "It seems that Trunks, the man that has been staying here this past semester, has finally decided to tell us more about himself." Ozpin walked away from the podium, and nodded towards Trunks, who took Ozpin's place.

"Hello..." He said, in a voice that told me he wasn't quite comfortable telling us what he was about to say. "My name is Trunks. I'm sure most of you have met me, though I'm sure some know me better than others. Today though, I'm going to tell you exactly who I am. You see, I'm...well...maybe it would just be better to show you."

After he said this, he transformed into the golden haired form that he destroyed the Grimm in the forest with. Once again, I felt hard wind rushing into me, not enough to knock me down, but enough that I could feel it. I heard a few "ooh"s and "ahh"s from my fellow students. I think I even heard Nora let out a loud "Whoa!" but I can't be sure. After a few moments, Trunks returned to his purple haired self.

"That..." He explained. "...was a Super Saiyan."

Immediately, everyone into a buzz. I'll admit, even I was caught up in it. "Super Saiyan?", I wondered. What on remnant is a Saiyan?

Before we could get too carried away, Professor Goodwitch let out a loud "Ahem!" which silenced everyone. The room now quiet, Trunks continued his explanation.

"None of you are going to believe what I am about to say, I know it. It's almost beyond comprehension, but you have to listen to me and trust that I am telling the truth." Trunks sighed, before continuing. "Before I fully explain what that transformation was, I have to give some backstory. There are more sentient creatures in the universe than just humans, faunus, and the occasional Grimm. In fact, I am a descendant of one of them, my father was not human, nor faunus. He was a Saiyan, a powerful alien warrior race."

"Saiyan..." I heard Yang whisper. As before, there was some buzz among the crowd, but it wasn't nearly as loud as before. Nobody wanted to get Professor Goodwitch angry.

"I wasn't told much about the Saiyan race from my father or mentor, but I will relay what information I do know. Saiyans have much more natural power than humans or faunus. I would assume a full blooded Saiyan baby would be equivalent in strength to about 10-15 human or faunus adults without their aura unlocked. Their senses of hearing, sight, and smell are also more heightened similar to a faunus. They even have monkey-like tails, like some Faunus do. To make this explanation short, their physiology gives them tough bodies with great strength, endurance, and speed. They evolved to be dedicated to battle."

"They're also ruthless, evil by nature, and love the thrill of a fight. A Saiyan lives for fighting, it's in their blood. Although I would ask that you pardon me from that stereotype. As many of you can probably guess, I'm not ruthless or evil, and I don't fight for fun. I can only imagine the reason for this is that I'm half saiyan, as my mentor, Gohan, is also half-saiyan, and is the same way."

"One more thing before I finish with the basic explanation of Saiyans. Like I said before, the Saiyans had monkey-like tails, but these tails had another function. If a Saiyan with a tail were to look at the full moon, they would transform into a huge Great Ape beast, which multiplies the power of that Saiyan tenfold. The size of the beast ranges anywhere from 50 to 100 feet tall. This is known as an Oozaru, and you don't have to worry about me turning into one since my tail was cut off as a child."

I pictured a giant roaring ape stampeding across Vale. That certainly would not be a pretty sight.

"Now to explain the other transformation a Saiyan can undergo, Super Saiyan."

"The Super Saiyan transformation is the fulfillment of one of the oldest legends of the Saiyan race. It is said to be a transformation achieved by those pure of heart, and it is awaken by fury. The legend of the Super Saiyan was feared across the galaxy, and it was said that one had not existed for 1,000 years. It was said to be the pinnacle of power that any Saiyan could achieve, so overwhelming that if a Super Saiyan were to exist, they would be the strongest being in the universe."

"It was also believed that there would be only one. I'll tell you that the legend is wrong on that last part. I am not the first Saiyan to achieve this transformation. In fact, there were at least three different Super Saiyans before me... at least in my timeline."

Timeline? What the heck? I heard even more buzzing, yelling, and overall confusion. I, meanwhile, merely stood there, trying to take it all in. My friend was an alien...from a different time? I don't think anything could have prepared me for that.

"Now, I'm sure this is all a confusing topic for all of you, but I promise, if you let me continue, I'll explain everything." Trunks yelled, hoping to get the crowd calmed down. While that didn't quite work, another stern look from Goodwitch and the crowd was behaving once again.

For a second, Trunks closed his eyes, seemingly preparing himself. "I've come from 10 years in the future, at least, that's what I'd assume. I may have miscounted, as I haven't quite gotten used to your calendar system yet."

...and now he was from the future. Every single sentence gave me more questions, more confusion, and yet somehow, more excitement.

"In my time, there are two androids, #17 and #18, developed by a man named Dr. Gero. The doctor was just the first victim of the android's rampage. They've destroyed city after city, almost all of the strong warriors, such as my father, who was a super saiyan himself, were killed. There were only three warriors they didn't kill, and only two that survived. Goku, the first super saiyan, was killed by a new heart virus before the androids could arrive."

"That's terrible..." I thought to myself. I thought the Grimm were bad, but these androids sounded absolutely heartless. Aside from Trunks and that other person, there weren't any people to defend against them. People had to be dying left and right. At least the Grimm only really chase after negative emotions...

"The other person to survive the rampage was Goku's son, Gohan. He was the third super saiyan, and he lasted long enough to train me in his ways. That all changed in an instant, though." Trunks stared at the floor, as if trying not show emotion. "My mentor went out to fight the androids one day, and he...was murdered in cold blood. It was when I found his lifeless body that I finally unleashed my Super Saiyan powers."

"When I returned home, crying, but powered, I found a gift in my room. From Gohan." Trunks's fists clenched, as I saw a single tear fall down his eye. "A sword. Where he got it, I'm not sure, but that didn't matter. From that day forth, I made sure to use that sword in his honor."

A sword...but he doesn't have a sword. Did he lose it when he went here? Did it break? I didn't know, but I DID know one thing. I had an idea.

 **Weiss Schnee**

From the start, I didn't trust this "Trunks" character. Not only was I not able to recognize the company on his jacket (Capsule Corporation? What kind of name is that?), but his unimaginable strength and power didn't seem right. Add that to his complete ignorance of our culture, and he did not seem trustworthy in the slightest. Just an hour ago, my trust of him dropped to new lows. That "Super Saiyan" transformation raised several red flags. Someone of his power has to be kept in check, but I don't know of anyone who would be able to do so.

Now though, I was having second thoughts. His story about his past seemed...sincere. I could feel the emotion in his voice, and that's not something a person can fake. If he is to say he's an alien from another timeline, I don't have any other choice but to believe him. As incredibly ridiculous as that sounds, Trunks is telling the truth.

"A few years later..." This "Saiyan" continued. "My mother, Bulma Briefs, developed a time machine. Her goal was to use it to save Goku from his heart virus, using the now developed medicine for it. Aside from that, she planned to warn Goku and his friends about the android threat, 3 years in advance. 'Hopefully,' she thought, 'That'll be enough time for them to train.'"

"...however, regardless of what we changed, our future would remain the same. You see, time would be a very fragile thing if we actually changed it. For example, if I went back in time, and for whatever reason, killed my grandfather before my father was born, then I wouldn't exist, right? However, if I didn't exist, then I would never have been able to go back in time to kill my grandfather, meaning he would be alive, which would lead to me existing, and killing him. It's a paradox."

I had heard of that before. "The Grandfather Paradox", it's one of the reasons many scientists here on Remnant have given up on time travel. To many, it's pointless to try, but obviously Trunks's mother figured it out, which means...

"So..." Trunks continued. "...my mother's time machine was designed to do something a bit different. Instead of truly going back in time, it created new timelines. From there, the machine traveling into a vortex, where it twists and turns until it reaches the point and timeline that I'm attempting to go to."

...yes, the "Multiverse Theory". I suppose this Bulma character must have been rather smart, seeing as she not only developed a time machine, she managed to create something that can basically create new time itself. Intriged, I stood there patiently, waiting.

"It took a few months, but eventually, my mother finished the time machine, I began my trip to the past..."

 **Yang Xiao Long**

When I signed up to be a huntress, I knew what I was getting into. Excitement, Adrenaline, and being in situations that I never would have expected. I was OK with all of that, it was my main reason for becoming a huntress, really, but this? I certainly didn't expect THIS.

Trunks HAD always seemed off, that was for sure, but I always assumed he was HUMAN at least. Turns out, no, he's a time traveling alien. I'm still not quite sure how to react.

I didn't quite understand what he was talking about with the time machine, but I think I've heard it on TV one time. I believe what he's saying is that when he goes back or forward in time, it makes a new dimension like thing, and he can move between them at will. It didn't make much sense to me, but Time Travel has always been confusing, so I guess that's normal.

"The time machine wasn't very precise, so I came a few hours earlier than I planned. After a little trouble, I managed to get Goku's friends to the spot the he was supposed to land..."

Trunks paused for a moment, as if he realized something. "None of what I'm about to tell you is going to make sense if I don't explain Goku and the others better, so...here goes, I guess."

Taking a breath, Trunks began to explain. "Goku was sent to planet earth almost immediately after his birth. The goal he was given? Destroy all life on the planet. Fortunately, he hit his head after landing, giving him amnesia. From then, he was raised by an old martial artist named Gohan. Eventually, Goku, who still had his tail at this time, killed his grandfather in his giant monkey form after accidentally living under the full moon."

"After this, Goku mainly took care of himself, until the day he met my mother. She was on a search for 7 mystical orbs, one of which Goku had in his possession as a gift from Gohan. The Dragon Balls."

"A Dragon's what?" I whispered to my sister, who was standing beside me. Aside from that odd name, I a little shocked. The way Trunks had been talking about this "Goku" character, it shocked me to hear that, intentionally or not, he killed his adopted father.

"The dragon balls are orbs, that when gathered together, summon the dragon god, Shenron, who will grant you any one wish. While my mother may have had...impure motives for searching for the Dragon Balls, it started Goku's venture to the outside world, eventually becoming the hero of the planet, 'Earth' is what we called it."

They called the planet Earth in his time? That's a bit odd, but I guess the names could have changed through time.

"On his journey, Goku met many enemies, most of whom became his allies. He met Yamcha, a cowardly bandit, the Muten Roshi, a...perverted old master, and creator of the legendary ki technique called the Kamehameha, roughly translating to 'Turtle Devastation Wave'."

"After the Dragon was finally summoned, Goku journeyed to the home of the Muten Roshi, where he met his soon to be best friend, Krillin. While the two were rivals at first, they developed a great friendship as their training went on. My mother has told me many other stories of Goku's adventures when he was still just a small child, though the one that sticks out the most to me is his fight against the Red Ribbon Army...mainly because Dr. Gero, the creator of the Androids that rule my time, was a member of the Red Ribbon."

"Eventually, Goku grew into a man, and married a woman named Chi-Chi. The two produced a child, who Goku named after his own adopted father, Gohan. That Gohan is the very same person who mentored me."

"Later on, Goku learned of his saiyan heritage, and went face to face with my father. He was almost defeated after Vegeta turned into a great ape, which Goku couldn't counter due to his own tail being permanently removed years ago, but he managed to survive with the help of Krillin and Gohan, but at the cost of many other lives, including the namekian Piccolo, who was connected to the creator of the Dragon Balls, Kami. With the Dragon Balls now unusable, Goku and his friends traveled to the home of the namekians, Planet Namek, to use their Dragon Balls to revive their fallen friends. Unfortunately, they ran into the tyrant Freeza, who pushed Goku to his very limit, making him resort to using the Spirit Bomb, an attack used by gathering energy from all surrounding life forms and inanimate objects to conduct that energy into a massive blue ki sphere, with amazing destructive power. The best thing about that attack is that the person using it has to be pure of heart, so no evildoers can use it since the attack would backfire on them and kill them."

A collective energy attack like that seemed incredible. This "Goku" must have been amazing, with his incredible power and his apparently pure heart, he could probably even best Professor Ozpin in a one on one fight.

"...however, that still wasn't enough, and Freeza, hurt but still alive, killed Krillin in revenge. Unfortunately for him, all that did was get Goku angry enough to unlock the power of the Super Saiyan legend, and after that, it wasn't long before the tyrant was destroyed. It's thankful that the namekian Dragon Balls were able to revive Krillin, as well as the others killed in the battle with my father."

"Goku's power, now, far exceeds mine, and even my father's. The abilities he can use only help improve his power, an example being the Kaioken, a technique that, when used, multiplies the user's power. Eventually, he even learns a power known as 'Instant Transmission', allowing him to teleport instantly to where ever he can sense Ki, which is an ability not only Goku has, but also most of his friends and myself."

The more and more Trunks talked about Goku, the more and more impressed I became. The fact that he was stronger than Trunks was hard to understand, considering how strong Trunks himself is, especially with that "Super Saiyan" form of his, but according to him, it's true. That's simply incredible.

"Now...with all that explained, let's continue the tale..."

 **Blake Belladonna**

"...about 3 hours after I arrived, Goku's ship landed on Earth." The apparent Half-Saiyan continued. "He had taken the ship to escape Namek, which was in danger of exploding after the epic battle between the Super Saiyan and Freeza. When he arrived, I explained who I was to him, warned him about the android threat, and gave him the medicine for the heart virus he was going to obtain later. My original mission complete, I decided to go forward in time by 3 years, so I could help stop the androids threat. In reality, my goal was to figure out a way to defeat the androids in my time, as that was the entire point of going back in time in the first place."

I understood the words that were coming out of Trunks's mouth, but I wasn't truly listening yet. I was still in shock from his earlier explanation. While I could easily relate, it was still incredibly astonishing to hear that Trunks is an alien. I could completely understand why he would hide this for so long, It has only been a few months since I had revealed my past with the White Fang, and even then, it wasn't intentional.

What Trunks has gone through...it makes the Grimm look like a child's birthday party. At least there are periods of peace between Grimm attacks, but the fear the androids supply was constant. There was no time to rest, every fleeting moment of their existence was spent trying to survive.

"...but when I arrived..." Trunks continued his story. "I found something that shocked me. The androids Goku and my Father were fighting...they weren't the same androids that were in my time. One of them was even Dr. Gero himself, turned into a cyborg. I don't know what happened, but it seemed that the butterfly effect was in play."

Like multiverse theory, I had read about the butterfly effect more than once. It referred to the idea that small causes can have big effect, such as simply preparing fighters for a war will have the opposite side pick different soldiers to send into battle.

"They seemed weaker than my androids too, as my father defeated one of them with ease, and most likely would have defeated the other one, Dr. Gero, if he hadn't ran. We all chased after him, but by the time we caught up, the doctor had awoken 3 new androids. Two of them were the ones I knew, Androids 17 and 18, but the other was another new one, Androids 16. We attacked, but we were no match, and were knocked aside like ants."

"We weren't given much time to reflect on our loss, however, as Piccolo, a member of a different alien race called the Namekians, ran into a creature, devouring the people in a town, somehow sucking them up with his tail. Piccolo, at that current moment, was far stronger than the creature, and was able to get it's name. Cell. It was made of the very cells of the strongest fighters on the planet, Goku, Piccolo, Vegeta, and me included."

"Cell managed to get away, so we split up. My father, Goku, Gohan, and I went to go train in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, a room where you can live a full year in a day, and Piccolo and the others went to search for Cell."

"Apparently, Piccolo ran into the androids, and the resulting battle that followed summoned Cell, much stronger at this point. He managed to absorb android 17, becoming 'semi-perfect'. Before he could absorb 18, though, my father and I left the time chamber. During our training, we discovered a way to ascend past a super saiyan. I'd demonstrate it, but I don't have nearly as much control over the form as I do a regular Super Saiyan. Chances are I'd destroy Beacon itself just trying to transform."

A power beyond a super saiyan? Just how strong was Trunks? He had demolished that army of grimm earlier, so I could only imagine what he could do if he used all of his strength.

"My father rushed in, far stronger than Cell at that state, but eventually, Cell, knowing exactly what my father's personality was, appealed to him, saying that if Vegeta helped him find 18, he'd get a much better fight. My father, foolishly, agreed, and allowed Cell to continue his search for the android. Despite my efforts to stop it, he succeeded, and in his 'Perfect' form, he defeated both of us."

"With his newfound power, Cell had an idea. He would create a tournament where the strongest fighters in the world would try to best him. If no one could, he would kill everyone on the planet, one by one. Naturally, Goku and his friends joined, as did I."

"Goku was the first one up, and the fight he and Cell had was incredible. The normal human eye wouldn't even be able to keep up with the battle. There were plenty of close calls, and at one point, Goku even blasted the top of Cell's body off, but because he had namekian cells, Cell managed to regenerate and keep fighting. Eventually, though, Goku gave up, realizing that there's no way that he could beat Cell. What he did next, though, shocked everyone."

"'Gohan...' he said. 'It's your turn, son.'. Everyone, including Gohan, was surprised. As far as everyone knew, Goku was the strongest person on earth, to hear that Gohan was their last hope didn't make any sense, but Goku was persistent, explaining that Gohan's potential power is far beyond Goku."

"Cell, interested, attempted to torture the young boy in an attempt to get the power out of him, but when that didn't work, he tried a new strategy. Creating small, miniature versions of himself, Cell Jr.'s, and sending them against Goku and friends. We were demolished, and eventually, Gohan finally managed to unlock his hidden power, ascending past the super saiyan form in a way I didn't think was possible. He created a new form, instead of simply increasing the strength of the regular Super Saiyan form. It's with this power that Gohan eaisly destroyed the Cell Jr.'s, and brought Cell to his knees. Before the young saiyan could kill the creature, however, Cell turned himself into a bomb, planning to destroy the entire planet, along with himself."

"That's when Goku intervened. He used a new ability he had learned, something that could instantly teleport himself anywhere he could sense ki, though you know that better as aura. Using this technique, he took both himself and Cell off the planet, sacrificing himself."

This "Goku" seemed like a very noble person. He sacrificed himself, solely to save the planet. If I could, I'd very much like to meet this man, and truly see who he is.

"Despite sadness that came with the loss of Goku, there was a sense of relief for a moment...until a strong gust of wind came from behind us where Goku had just sacrificed himself. The wind blew up a storm of dirt, obscuring whatever was causing it. Crackles of static electricity came from the center of the chaos, much like the ones seen around Gohan when he ascended. The winds suddenly picked up, and I could feel an immense power. I didn't have much time to comprehend it though, since a ki blast came from within the storm and pierced my chest. Cell had returned, and I was his first target. I died almost instantly."

Trunks...died? What? How? He's...alive right now isn't he? I stood in confusion for a minute, before I remembered the Dragon Balls Trunks had mentioned earlier. Regardless, to hear that someone you know, and is standing right in front of you, has experienced death once before...that's hard to believe.

"I can imagine that's hard to believe, as I'm alive and well now. But remember, the Dragon Balls exist in that timeline. I obviously wasn't around for the events that followed, but I'll give a shortened account from what I was told. Apparently, that monster had been able to return because one of his cells had survived. As long as one of his cells was preserved, that was all he needed to regenerate a new body for himself. He then used the same technique Goku used to get them off the planet, Instant Transmission, to return to Earth more powerful than ever. After a massive ki blast struggle between Cell and Gohan, both of whom used the Kamehameha against one another, Gohan barely emerged victorious, and the Cell Games came to a close."

"Not that much later, Gohan and the rest used the Dragon Balls to revive me, and, with my new found power, I attempted to go back in time to defeat the androids of my time...but that's how I ended up here. I don't know what happened, but, I suppose that the time machine malfunctioned, taking a wrong turn in the dimensional vortex somewhere, and it sent me here. My first instinct was to attempt to use the machine again, hoping it would correct the mistake, but nothing happened. The machine had finally broken down, and without something to fuel it, I'm trapped here."

"...don't get me wrong. I love Remnant, and I'm glad I landed here, of all places, but that's not going to stop me from missing my home."

Trunks sighed, before ending his speech. "Thank you for your time." He ended, walking of the stage.

The crowd began to leave, but Ruby, Yang, Weiss and I stayed behind. I think there was some sort of mental call for a meeting after this assembly, as, out of most students in the school, we were around Trunks the most.

"So..." Yang started the conversation. "Trunks is a time traveling...alien...from another dimension?"

Ruby held her head, shaking it. "Ow!" She complained. "My brain!"

Weiss just looked at the floor. "I expected something was off with Trunks from the start, but even I couldn't have predicted this."

"I can relate." I muttered. "I mean...hiding this for so long? If I hadn't slipped up, then I wouldn't have told you about my past with the White Fang at all. The fact that he managed to tell us without us finding out...that's commendable."

Weiss looked back up. "I can relate to his emotions, but certainly not his experiences. What he's been through is enough hardship for a lifetime, he's even experienced death! All that, and I'd assume he's not much older than us. It's truly shocking to think about something like that, it puts my life in perspective."

"Yeah, I get what you mean..." Ruby added. "I think I can relate to him, not because of what he's been through, but because of what he does to protect people he cares about. That's the reason I want to be a huntress, I want to be a hero like Trunks."

Yang didn't say anything. Instead, she appeared to be staring off into space, until Ruby nudged her. "Huh?" She asked, confused, before she figured it out. "Oh, yeah, I think the same."

"Well..." Said Weiss. "...I guess we should head back to our quarters."

"You guys can go." Ruby interrupted. "I'll catch up later, I've got something to do."

With those words, our leader ran off, leaving us alone.

 **Trunks Briefs**

That night, I had a strange dream.

It was hard to make out, as if it was a fading memory, but I could make out armies of grimm attacking a city. I saw a woman with a red dress fighting Ozpin. I saw myself, as a super saiyan, fighting someone with dark red hair. The last thing I saw before I awoke was a mountain starting to break apart, before...

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

I awoke in a hurry, going into a fighting stance on instinct, before I remembered where I was. I took a look out the window, seeing it was still night. Who would be knocking on my door at this hour?

I got up, yelling out "Just a minute!", as I put on some more presentable clothes. When I opened the door, however, I found, in her pajamas, Ruby Rose. She had bags in her eyes, as if she'd been up all night, but, at the same time, she was smiling.

"Hey...Trunks..." She greeted, sleepily.

"Ruby?" I questioned. "What are you doing up this late?"

It was at this point I noticed that the girl's hands were behind her back, hiding something. "I had to borrow some stuff from Professor Peach..." She answered. "But I managed to get this done for you."

After saying that, Ruby revealed the object she was hiding. A sword. "It all of my willpower not to put a whole bunch of guns in it, but I figured you'd like it simple."

Surprised, I took the sword, and examined it. Perfectly crafted, from the steel to the hilt. I knew that Ruby had an interest in building weapons, but I had no idea that she was this good at it.

"Thanks...Ruby..." I responded, still in shock.

"It's no problem!" She replied, rubbing her eyes. "I just figured...it would be a nice thing to do."

I saw her turn back to go to her own quarters, but I had an idea. "Ruby! Wait!" I yelled out, stopping her.

"What is it, Trunks?" She asked.

I sighed, happily. "Ruby. How would you like to be trained by me?"

When I saw the girl's reaction, from surprise, to confusion, to total happiness, I knew I had made the right decision.

 _Welcome to Remnant, Trunks._

 **We've done it! Season 1 is DONE, On to season 2! The next chapter's gonna be pretty big too, though probably not as long, so I'll actually get it on time! On to the reviews!  
**

 **ryanweston123:** Glad you liked the fight scene, as it was my first TRUE fight scene in all of my fanfiction. I'm so happy to see character perspectives make the story better.

 **ServerLock:** That's fair, but the point of that one fight scene was to show the potential threat the Grimm could pose, if enough of them ganged up on him. I'm also just gonna say that I think RWBY characters are capable of the same crazy shit DBZ characters are, if they could use Ki.

 **Wolfenheart:** I already explained that in the chapter, Trunks still wanted Blake to come clean herself.

 **gammabeta99:** Thanks, man! It means a lot, especially when I decided to take a look at your story.

 **Til next time, guys!**


	9. A New Threat

**SAL-U-TATIONS! I've decided to make my deadline 2 weeks instead of one, due to exams coming up in my school. Once summer comes around, I'll bring it back down to a week.**

 **In the mean time, enjoy this chapter!**

 **Ruby Rose**

"Haaa!" I yelled, swinging Crescent Rose once again. Just like the last 12 times I had tried to hit Trunks, he dodged effortlessly.

"Dang it!" I yelled in my head. "I can't even touch him!"

Once more I decided to try my luck, this time leaping and attacking my mentor from above. However, despite my best attempts to hit him he easily backflipped out of the way, leaving my sweetheart stuck in the dirt below. Trunks simply stared at me, a serious expression on his face. He didn't speak, but I knew he was telling me to try another shot. After 13 failed attacks though, I knew I had to start to even the odds.

I felt my cloak spin around me as I lept off the ground, dashing towards my mentor. My semblance was my trump card in this fight. If I couldn't hit Trunks normally, I'd have to increase my speed.

Unfortunately, my master plan wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Before I could even so much as swing Crescent Rose, Trunks grabbed his sword that I made him a few days ago, and pulled it out of its sheathe. Almost instantly he blocked my swipe with the blade, and before I could even react he threw a hard boot to my stomach, knocking my weapon and I to the floor.

"Owww..." I groaned as I got to my feet. "Ow. Ow. Ow."

Trunks suddenly got worried. "Sorry!" He cried out. "I didn't hit you too hard, did I?"

I got up and managed a smile. "No, no, I'm fine." I reassured him, even though I was very much NOT fine. "Just got the wind knocked out of me. I'm fine."

He sighed in relief before putting back his sword. He walked up to me and offered his hand. I took it and got to my feet, dragging Crescent Rose with me. I refolded my sweetheart and put it back in its holder.

"So..." I started, hoping I'd be able to get the answer I was looking for. "...can you teach me how to use Ki now?"

Trunks shook his head. "No Ruby, I've told you this already. You need to be at your physical peak before I can teach you how to use Ki. You still can't even land a hit on me."

I pouted. "Oh, come on, please?!"

"I said no, Ruby." Trunks responded sternly.

I sighed. "Okay..." I responded, begrudgingly. "So, why can't I hit you?" I suddenly asked, in an attempt to change the topic.

"Well..." Trunks began to answer. "...you see Ruby, you're pretty fast on your own, and with that semblance of yours you're even faster. However, you've never pushed it past its normal limits."

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "'Push past its limits?" I asked. "What do you mean?"

"You only know how to move your entire body with your semblance." My mentor explained. "What you need to figure out how to do is to move your separate limbs with your semblance. That's how you can hit faster, and especially how you can hit harder."

That sounded confusing to me, but I got the jist. "That's easy!" I lied, turning my head towards the other end of the path we were walking through. The Forest of Forever Fall worked great as a training place. I took out Crescent Rose and began to swing, trying to activate my semblance on just my arms.

Nothing happened. Unless you count a sudden aching in my arms. Next to me, Trunks tried to hide a snicker.

"It's gonna take some time Ruby, and a lot of practice. But when you manage to get it done, you'll be much stronger than before. Trust me."

I tried to respond, but before I could Trunks took a look at his scroll and almost leaped in shock. "Oh no!" He yelled. "I hadn't been paying attention to the time, you better go to lunch, Ruby!"

 _"Like this hasn't happened twice before already."_ I laughed internally, as I began running off towards my quarters so I could change into my school uniform. "Alright, see you tomorrow Trunks!" I yelled, waving as I ran.

He waved back, smiling. "Right, tomorrow Ruby." He responded, a little less loudly.

 **Trunks Briefs**

I watched my student run off. I had eaten not too long ago, so there was no need to run to the cafeteria with her. I had no plans for the evening, so I began to let ideas flow through my mind.

"Perhaps I could fly over and check out one of the other kingdoms." I muttered to myself. I had long since explored every corner of Vale, and with my speed it wouldn't take much more than a minute, if even, to reach Atlas or Mistral. I was considering my idea when I turned around, and suddenly found Professor Ozpin standing behind me.

I almost jumped into the air in surprise. Seeing people suddenly appear behind me wasn't really surprising on it's own. I had seen enough of that on Earth, but I wasn't expecting anyone on Remnant to be that fast. "How...Where...?" I sputtered, confused.

Ozpin simply gave me a small smirk. "Hello, Trunks." He said, ignoring my question entirely.

"Uh..." I responded, calming down. "Hello, I guess?"

Ozpin had the same expression he always had. One that showed an adventurous spirit, but at the same time he always seemed disinterested in everything around him. I could never quite put my finger on how he felt.

"I see Ruby is making some progress." He spoke casually, as if he hadn't just suddenly appeared out of nowhere behind me a few seconds ago. "You had to block that last shot."

"Yeah." I admitted. The girl was a quick learner, and speed already came naturally to her. It's not like her shot would have particularly hurt, but the point of our sparring was for the cloaked girl to land a hit on me. "She's a pretty good student."

"Indeed." Ozpin replied, not even looking at me. He was walking towards the school at a steady pace, not fast enough to get out of my range, but fast enough that he was making some distance. "Trunks, we've been thinking about doing this since you first got here, but without any knowledge about yourself it didn't seem wise to include you."

I raised an eyebrow. "We" could mean the other teachers, but what he was saying seemed odd. Odder than usual, at least.

He turned his head back to me, a far more serious expression on his face. "Now though, we almost universally agree that you should know."

I was certainly confused. "Know...what?" I asked.

He turned around again and began walking towards Beacon Academy once more. "Meet us in my office." He bluntly responded, before leaving.

Meanwhile, I just stood there confused and stunned. After a minute, I finally realized I needed to follow the professor, and began my walk towards the castle-like school.

 _10 minutes later_

The walk to Ozpin's office was long. If I had flown it wouldn't have taken more than a few seconds, but at my casual pace it took quite a while to reach the door that signified the clock tower like room.

I almost let my curiosity get the better of me. I turned the doorknob slightly before my polite nature kicked in, and I knocked on the door.

"Come in." I heard Ozpin say in his usual, disinterested tone.

Permission now obtained, I turned the doorknob and entered the strange office. At the end of the room was Ozpin, as I expected, and Professor Goodwitch. Ozpin had the same expression from before, but Goodwitch looked somewhat concerned. It was odd to see that expression on the female professor. Usually the only emotion she could convey was irritation.

"Hello again Trunks." Goodwitch greeted softly. She spoke the same way she did back when I first showed up at Beacon, almost comforting me. It was a nice change from Ozpin's presence of importance and authority. She almost made the situation seem like something other than an interrogation.

I nodded towards Goodwitch, a little too confused and interested to appropriately greet her. I stared awkwardly at Ozpin. I had contemplated what he was talking about in Forever Fall during my walk to the school, but I hadn't been able to fit anything together. I wasn't sure if I was going to be looking forward to what he had to say.

When I saw him nod towards the chair on the other side of the desk, I took a seat, and took a breath. "So..." I began to ask. "...what did you want from me?"

Leaning back in his chair, Ozpin asked a simple question. "Are you familiar with Remnant's fairy tales?"

Fairy Tales? I did recall a few of them from my time in Beacon's library. The Tale of the Two Brothers and the Shallow Sea were some of the few that stuck in my head. "Somewhat, I suppose." I answered.

"Then are you aware of the Four Maidens?" He asked, still leaning back.

That name didn't quite ring a bell. "No sir." I replied. I wasn't quite sure why I addressed Ozpin as sir. Perhaps it was out of respect for his authority. Maybe I had simply become used to it due to the fact that most people who were still alive in my time required some amount of respect.

Ozpin gave out a small "Hmm..." before leaning towards me. "It is the tale of an old man, one who refuses to leave his own home, being visited by four traveling maidens. The first of the group understands his solitude, and encourages him to use his time alone to reflect and mediate. The second brings him fresh fruits and flowers, taking care of his garden and bringing it back to its former glory. The third maiden manages to warm the cold heart of the old man, convincing him to step outside of his home and see the beauty that surrounds him. Finally, the fourth maiden begs the man to look at all he has and be thankful."

The story sounded traditional, as if it was a story my mother told me when the world was still at peace. Before the androids came and killed everyone. The story however, had not concluded. Ozpin continued. "In return for their kindness, the old man grants the maidens incredible powers, so that they may continue to help others all over Remnant. Humbly, the four maidens accept their powers, and promise the man to share their kindness with the world until the end of days."

When I realised that Ozpin had finished, I nodded. Kindly as I could, I asked a question. "What is so important about this fairy tale?" I wondered. "Surely you didn't just bring me up here to tell me a story, right?"

"No, we didn't." Goodwitch replied. "Trunks, you see, the story of the four maidens isn't JUST a fairy tale."

I raised an eyebrow. "So you're telling me it's real?" I asked.

"Exactly." Ozpin confirmed.

"How?" I wondered. "Some sort of special dust?"

"Not dust." Ozpin corrected. "Magic."

This time both of my eyebrows rose. "Excuse me if I find that hard to believe."

Ozpin chuckled, as if my comment was ridiculous. "Is it really any stranger than flight and firing energy blasts out of your hands?"

I shook my head, ready to argue. "Ki is a form of energy. Magic goes against science."

Glynda shook her head. "Not everything can be explained with logic, Trunks. Some things just...are."

Suddenly, Ozpin got out of his chair, walking towards the door I had used to enter the office. "Come." Was his simple directive. Goodwitch followed without question. Though I was still confused, I figured I should do the same.

The trip to the elevator wasn't a long one, but it felt like an eternity to me. The confusion of what they had told me so far, and the almost worried look on their faces...it just made me uncomfortable.

"Where...are we going?" I asked, almost feeling the sweat dropping on my head.

"The vault." Ozpin answered, matter of factly. "...under the school."

I noticed the ki signals that signified the students and other teachers were above me at this point. I could only sense one aura under me, and...

 _"...what...is...that...?"_ I announced in my thoughts, my expression surely turning rather strange. I could see the confused gazes of Goodwitch and Ozpin, but they quickly recalled my ability to sense aura.

The aura I felt...it was weak, as if only a little bit was left. Not only that, but it seemed to be bouncing around in the body. It was as if it saw the skin that contained it as some sort of prison, and was desperately trying to escape.

I finally heard the "ding" that meant we'd reached our destination. The doors opened, revealing a long and dark hallway. Torches with green flames lit the room, tinting it as if it was from one of the alien movies my mother watched as a teenager.

Ozpin and Goodwitch exited the elevator without hesitation. I only stepped out because I feared the doors would close on me if I didn't.

"I'm...sensing a strange aura." I told my escorts. "Is that one of the..."

"Yes." Glynda interrupted. "That is one of the Maidens. The Fall Maiden, to be precise."

"I can feel her aura...it's like it's trying to escape her." I responded, explaining what I felt.

Ozpin sighed. "Then it may be exactly as we feared."

I turned my attention to the headmaster. "What?" I asked, confused.

"You see, Trunks..." Glynda began to explain. "The maidens are like the seasons. No two summers are alike. When a Maiden dies, her power transfers to a new host. This ensures that the seasons are never lost, and no individual can hold onto the power forever."

"However..." Ozpin interrupted. "This situation is unlike any we've seen before. Someone attacked the current Fall Maiden, Amber."

"Unfortunately, the attack itself isn't an unlikely occurrence." Goodwitch continued explaining. "The few people who know about the Maidens tend to attack them, in hopes of obtaining their power."

"This however, is unlike the rest." Once again, Ozpin spoke. "Somehow, part of Amber's power was stolen."

My eyebrows raised. "Stolen?" I asked, but my confusion lead to anger when I saw what was in front of us.

In a chamber that looked like some sort of life support system, there was a woman. Her long brown hair and white underwear never came to my mind, I was only looking at her face. Intense scars ran all along it, almost like a spiderweb. Her expression seemed lifeless, as if the machine she was in was barely keeping her alive. Clearly, she was suffering from whatever her attackers did to her.

Before I even knew what I was doing, I felt my aura turn to a burning gold. In my Super Saiyan state, I turned towards Ozpin, fury filling my body.

" _Who did it?_ " I growled. "I'll find them, and I'll make them pay!"

Glynda spoke up from behind me. "Unfortunately Trunks, it's not that simple." She explained. "We aren't even sure who did this. Qrow came in and put an end to the ambush, but the attackers ran off before he could get a good look."

I felt my hair return to normal as my transformation diminished. "Qrow...?" I thought out loud. "That's Ruby's uncle. Why is he...?"

Ozpin suddenly interrupted. "Trunks, we have a lot to fill you in on, but for now THIS is more important. We call tell you the rest when we know you're with us."

I sighed, calming down. "Alright." I nodded. "I'm with you."

Ozpin smiled. It wasn't a smirk like I had seen him do before. No, this felt sincere, comforting even.

Relief filled my body, as I finally relaxed my stance. "So, do we have any leads, or are we completely blind?"

"Well..." Goodwitch began to explain. "With the Vytal Festival approaching, we have good reason to believe Amber's attackers will disguise themselves as students."

I nodded in understanding. Doing that would be the best course of action to get closer to Amber. "So, where do I come in? Is there any way to stop them?"

"Not a guaranteed way, no." Ozpin answered. "However, what we need you to do is to keep an eye on the visiting students. Make sure nothing out of the ordinary comes about."

"The rest of us have teaching duties, and Ozpin must continue to manage Beacon." Glynda continued. "You don't have that burden, allowing you to keep a closer eye on the students."

Once again, Ozpin took over the explanation. "If you can help us with this, Trunks, we'll do our best to get you back to your home."

"I'll do it." I said immediately. Even if they didn't offer to help me get back home, I would have accepted. I never resisted a chance to help others before, and I wasn't planning to start.

"Thank you, Trunks." Glynda had a smile on her face. It was odd. My entire time here at Beacon, I felt uncomfortable around the teachers. Even when I revealed my secret, I still felt like I was doing something wrong when I was with them. Now though, it instantly felt like I was one of them.

"There's no way I could say no to helping someone." I explained, giving a smile of my own.

CRASH!

I had heard louder noises before, but even I flinched slightly when I heard that noise. I had no idea what could have caused it, but the look on Glynda's face told me that she could guess what was going on.

Growling in a more familiar tone of frustration, the blond haired teacher stormed off. Passively, Ozpin followed behind her, chuckling as he walked by me.

"Kids." I heard Ozpin laugh.

 **And so Season 2 begins. Let's be honest, if you can trust a super powered alien to help you out, you're gonna ask him to help. Anyway, onto Review Replies.**

 **Ryanweston123:** Doing a chapter that was half exposition got boring fast. I have tried to keep off the commas now, and well, you helped out on this chapter, so thanks.

 **TheMAO17:** Understandable, but if he was going to continue to keep his heritage a secret, it would only be to Ozpin. Trunks didn't want to keep the secret anymore, hence the assembly.

 **Gammabeta99:** Thanks! I thought the perspective thing would work out well. I haven't gotten a chance to read your story yet, no, but I'm interested and it looks like it's pretty good.

 **Wolfenheart:** As stated before, if Trunks was going to continue hiding his secret, RWBY wouldn't be in the few that know. They're still students. Also, just wait till "Painting the Town". Trunks'll get his "WTF that's my thing moment" too.

 **Jack Hopper:** The sword Ruby made is just a plain sword, with a purple hilt since that's the color she associated with him.

 **Peanut Butter Rainbow:** Awesomesauce, the best kind of sauce. Glad you enjoyed it.

 **Jack Redhawke:** The games call it finish buster, never heard of your name. Yeah, I misspelled a thing or two, I didn't think to check.

 **Gravenimage:** You hit the nail right on the head. However, I am not shipping Trunks with anyone.

 **Guest 1:** That fight wasn't very long. All of that happened in a minute, and Trunks wasn't even really trying.

 **Guest 2:** Yes. It is just a sword. It's only really special to Trunks, cause it's a gift.

 **Nexus the 13th:** Trunks being strong isn't what makes him cool to me. I picked him because of his personality and what it could do in the RWBYverse. I GET why people are angry, but here's the thing, it's my story. I'm writing it, and I'm trying to tell a certain narrative. If someone isn't a fan, they can feel free to write their own story. The more work in this section the better.


	10. The Air Fleet

**Aloha! It is I,** **The Great Clement** **Xman321! So, I've got this chapter out, and it's nothing TOO special, but Trunks finally gets to meet Ironwood, and lets just say it doesn't end well.**

 **Also, this next chapter is gonna take a little longer to come out, but don't worry, you'll still get some RWBY/DBZ Crossover action. Just with a different character.**

 **Let's just call it a favor for a friend. ;)**

 **Anyway, for now, enjoy!**

 **Trunks Briefs**

For the next few days after I was "inducted" into Ozpin's group so to speak, things were normal. I continued training with Ruby daily, read more of Remnant's literature in the Beacon library, and overall just lived life as I had been. I was holding to my word and keeping an eye on the visiting students, but I hadn't noticed anything suspicious...yet.

However, on this day something was amiss. Not with the students, they seemed fine so far, but hovering over Beacon were several Atlas military ships. Confused, I began to head towards the only person I was sure would have answers; Professor Ozpin.

I decided against going the traditional way up the stairs, because of the possibility of running into students that I did not currently have time to talk to. Instead I choose a more practical route; flying up to the window.

Interestingly both Ozpin and Glynda were already at the window, presumably staring at the same ships I saw. Glynda reacted first when she saw me, slightly surprised by my unorthodox way of reaching them.

"Oh, Trunks…" She said after a moment. "That's an interesting way to reach us."

I gave a quick shrug before explaining myself. "It was the quickest and easiest way. So, what's with the Atlas ships?"

Neither of them got the chance to answer, as they were interrupted by a beeping sound. Turning his head towards the door, Ozpin said, "Come in.".

The doors opened, revealing a man in a white Atlas uniform. My time spent in the library allowed me to easily recognize him. James Ironwood, general of Atlas' military forces*.

"Ozpin!" Ironwood greeted, walking into the office.

"Hello, General." Ozpin did the same, his arms behind his back in a polite manner.

"Please, drop the formalities." Ironwood responded as the two walked up to each other, shaking hands. James laughed for a moment before continuing to speak. "It's been too long."

"...and Glynda!" Ironwood spoke, turning his head towards the blond teacher. "It has certainly been too long since we last met."

"Oh, James!" Glynda responded sarcastically. With a condescending expression, she muttered. "I'll be outside."

The two watched Goodwitch leave the room. "Well, she hasn't changed a bit." Ironwood joked.

Ironwood then turned his attention to me. "So you must be the alien. Trunks, am I right?"

I nodded. "It's good to meet you, General. I'd shake your hand if I wasn't on the other side of this window."

He chuckled slightly before turning back to Ozpin. The headmaster had walked towards his desk, pouring more of his drink into his coffee mug. "So…" He began. "What in the world has brought you all the way down from Atlas? Headmasters don't typically travel with their students to the Vytal Festival."

Ozpin took his mug and handed it to Ironwood. "Well, you know how much I love Vale this time of year." Ironwood explained, taking some cartridge out of his coat and pouring its contents into the drink. "Besides, with you hosting I figured that this might be a good time for us to catch up."

"I can certainly appreciate some quality time between friends." Ozpin stated as he poured himself a glass of the drink and sat down. "However, the small fleet outside my window has me somewhat concerned."

"Well…" Ironwood defended. "Concern IS what brought them here."

"I understand travel between kingdoms has become increasingly difficult…"

"Oz…" Ironwood interrupted. "You and I both know WHY I brought those men."

I raised an eyebrow. Did he know about the maidens too? Ozpin hadn't told me much about the situation outside of the talk in the vault, but I assumed they were just busy.

Taking a sip of his drink, Ozpin sighed. "We are in a time of peace…" He spoke, calmly. "Shows of power like this...they're just going to give off the wrong impression."

Ironwood was quick to defend himself. "...but if what Qrow said is true…"

"If what Qrow said is true, then we will handle it." Ozpin immediately interrupted.

I decided to speak up. "You know about her too?" I wondered, intentionally being vague in case my assumption was wrong.

Ironwood looked at me for a second in shock, before turning to the Headmaster with an expression of concern. "You told HIM?!" He yelled.

"Trunks' power, his skill, and his intelligence could all be valuable." Ozpin began to explain. "Where he hails from is irrelevant."

"We don't know enough about him, Oz!" He responded in frustration. "How do we know that story of his isn't a cover up?! How do we know he's not with them?!"

"Excuse me!" I yelled, probably far louder than what was actually necessary. "I'm right here you know! While I respect your position, I would appreciate not being accused of being a liar and a double-agent."

Ironwood stood up straight and looked me in the eye. "You're not from Remnant. You have power far beyond what even the greatest Huntsmen and Huntresses could imagine. You're an alien. Those three reasons alone leave me a right to be a little paranoid with trusting you knowing about a situation as important as this. Ozpin may trust you , but you've given me no reason to do so just yet."

Ozpin looked as if he was about to stop this "fight", but I spoke up before he could even leave his chair. "I'm not in the mood to argue about WHY you can trust me. I am NOT with Amber's attackers, and I don't CARE if you believe me or not."

"Goodbye." I muttered, letting go of my grip on my ki and falling to the floor. I only slowed my descent when I was almost on the grass, preventing a possible hole in the ground.

I was angry, that was obvious. I couldn't stand a lot of things, but being accused was at the top of that list. I've LIVED throughout what can only be described as a living hell. I am the ONLY person capable of fighting those Androids now. Everyone else, Gohan included, has died. Now though, I'm being doubted. I understood it with Weiss, I hadn't shared much of my past with anyone at that time. But when I've laid my entire life on the table for people to see, I'm still being questioned.

I sighed, trying to calm down. After that talk I needed some fun and relaxation. Luckily, I knew exactly who to go to so I could it.

Team RWBY.

 **Ruby Rose**

The library was quiet, but I guess it's usually that way. I stared at my opponents. Weiss, Blake, and even my sister Yang sat in their respective chairs. As per usual, Yang was the most confident of the bunch.

"Alright…" I muttered to myself, checking to see if my strategy was good enough. This battle had been back and forth so far, but I was confident that my next move would end it.

"Yang Xiao Long, prepare your kingdom for battle!" I yelled, my card in hand.

"Bring it on!" She said, accepting my challenge.

"I deploy…" I cried, pulling the card out. "THE ATLESIAN AIR FLEET!"

My sister gasped as I slammed the card on the table. "Looks like I get to fly over your Ursai, and attack your walls directly!" I bragged, feeling my plan was perfect. Afterwards, I began making plane noises, emphasizing my point.

"You fiend!" Yang cried out.

I continued explaining how perfect my strategy was. "...and since Atlas is part of Mantle, my repair time only lasts _one turn._ "

My smirk left my face almost immediately, though, when I saw my sister chuckle. "Pretty sneaky, sis…" she complemented, lifting a card of her own. "...but you've just activated my TRAP CARD!"

I visibly (and verbally) flinched. I had missed something! Everything was falling apart!

"GIANT NEVERMORE!" Yang announced, slamming her fist on the table. The force shook the contents of the desk, knocking a good majority of the pieces on the side. "If I roll a seven or higher…" She explained. "...fatal feathers will slice your fleet in two!"

"But…" I objected. "If you roll a six or lower, the Nevermore will turn on your OWN forces!"

"That's just a chance I'm willing to take." My sister replied, determination in her eyes.

Yang grabbed the die and began shaking her hand. My eyes were on the die, expectantly. Whatever number it landed on could make, or break this game for me. After what felt like an eternity, Yang threw the die onto the table. It began rolling, and for a moment I was worried it was going to fall of the edge, but it stopped just at the end of the desk. I closed my eyes for a moment. " _Do I dare take a peek?"_ I thought to myself. Eventually, the suspense was too much, and I opened my eyes to look at the number.

7.

"NOOOOOOOO!" I cried out, my head slumping on the desk. "MY FEARLESS SOLDIERS!"

"Eh…" My sister chuckled, obviously ignoring my distress. "Most of them were probably androids."

"Goodbye...my friends…" I whispered, holding back tears. "You will be avenged…"

"Not until I collect my rewards!" Yang interrupted. "Which, by the way, are _doubled_ this round, thanks to the Mistral trade route!"

"Bah!" I yelled.

"Ooooh...and what's this?" My sister said, picking up the card this victory had earned her. "The smugglers of Wind Path?"

"BAH!" I cried again. "BAH I SAY!"

"Looks like I'm taking TWO cards from your hand!" Yang laughed.

"Have you no heart?!" I complained, meekly giving in to her demand.

As I laid there, groaning at my defeat, Yang kept the game going. "Well Weiss, it's your turn!" She stated.

"I have...absolutely no idea what's going on." The Heiress admitted. Yang quickly jumped to her side to see her deck.

"Look, it's easy!" She explained. "You're playing as Vacuo, which means all Vacuo based cards get a bonus!"

"That sounds dumb." My partner deadpanned.

Yang started going through Weiss's deck, in an attempt to help her make her next move. "See...you've got Sandstorm, Desert Scavenge…" Suddenly, she noticed something. "Oh! Look, Resourceful Raider! Now you can take Ruby's discarded Air Fleet.." I groaned more. "...and put it in your hand!"

"Okay…?" Weiss responded, clearly still confused.

"...and since Vacuo warriors have an endurance boost against natural hazards, you could use Sandstorm to disable my ground forces and simultaneously infiltrate my kingdom!" Suddenly, Yang's eyebrows dropped, giving off a much angrier look than before. "Just know that I will _not_ forget this declaration of war."

With those words, my sister slid back into her seat. "...and that means?" Weiss asked again, still completely out of the loop.

"You're just three moves away from conquering Remnant!" I shouted, still upset at my loss.

For a moment, my partner was silent. Then her head suddenly moved up from her cards, and she started laughing maniacally. "YES!" She shouted, like some sort of cartoon villain. "FEAR THE ALMIGHTY POWER OF MY FORCES! COWER AS THEY PILLAGE YOUR HOMES AND WEEP AS THEY TAKE YOUR CHILDREN FROM YOUR VERY ARMS!"

Suddenly, Yang casually picked up another card and raised it in the air. "Trap Card." She stated, calmly. "Your armies have been destroyed."

After a moment, Weiss sat down, holding back tears. "I hate this game of emotions we play!" She shouted.

I got out of my chair and rushed to hug my partner, attempting to comfort her. "Stay strong Weiss!" I told her. "We'll make it through this together!"

"Shut up! Don't touch me!" The heiress yelled, oddly returning my hug.

"Hey guys!" I heard a familiar voice say.

Immediately, I jumped out of Weiss's arms (that's still weird.). "Trunks!" I shouted, running up to my trainer. "How are you?!" I asked, before trying to correct myself and be more proper. "I mean...how are you, Master? Uh...Mentor? Aha! How are you, Sensei!" When I finally figured out how to greet him, I did a little ninja bow out of respect.

"Uh…Fine." Trunks chuckled, before turning his attention to the rest of my team. "So, what's this?" He asked.

"Oh, just a game Ruby and I used to play before coming to Beacon." Yang answered, lying the back of her head on her hands.

I put my hand on my hips. "Yeah, and you always beat me at it!" I pouted.

Yang simply gave a smirk, before Jaune came running up to our table. "Hey! Can I play?" He asked.

"Sorry, Jaune…" I sheepishly apologised. "We've already got 4 people."

"Besides…" Weiss added, her arms crossed. "This game requires a certain level of tactical cunning that I _seriously_ doubt you possess."

"Uh, you attacked your own naval fleet two turns ago." Yang interrupted. Weiss's response was a simple grunt.

"Bring it on, Ice Queen!" Jaune challenged "I'll have you know that I've been told I'm a natural born leader!"

"By who?" My partner questioned. "Your mother?"

"A-and Pyrrha!" He defended, stuttering. From the table next to us, Pyrrha waved and said hello.

"Come on!" Jaune begged. "Let me play your hand for a turn!"

"I'm not trusting you with the good citizens of Vacuo!" Weiss denied.

"Why not?!" Jaune wondered. "You've trusted me with WAY more important stuff before! I mean, you've told us all that Blake is secretly a-"

The moment Jaune started speaking, Pyrrha got up from her seat and ran over to cover Jaune's mouth. "FUN-LOVING PERSON!" She finished for him. "Whom we all admire, and respect."

For a moment, everyone looked towards Blake. She didn't look very amused. From the quick glance I saw, Trunks wasn't very happy either. He wasn't shooting Jaune an angry look, but it was more like the glance a parent gives a child when they do something minor. A warning, almost.

"Heh-heh...Right...That…" Jaune corrected himself. "Ladies, enjoy your battle." With those words, my blond haired friend did an exaggerated bow and began to walk off."

"Hey losers!" Said _another_ voice I recognised. Sun, the monkey faunus from the docks, was standing behind us. He smiled for a moment, before noticing Trunks. "Oh hey!" He said, a little startled. "You're the purple haired guy from the docks!"

Trunks extended his hand. "Right." He responded. "We've never been properly introduced, I'm Trunks."

"Sun." The faunus explained. "Anyway, I never got the chance to introduce the rest of you to my old friend."

Sun pointed towards a blue haired teen behind him. "Um…" The newcomer started, slightly confused. "...aren't libraries for reading?"

"THANK YOU!" Ren, who was seated with the rest of his team reading a book, yelled. Nora was face down on one side of the book, fast asleep. "Pancakes!" She snorted.

"Shut up." Sun told his friend. "Don't be a nerd."

"Intellectual, okay?" The blue haired teen corrected. "Thank you. I'm Neptune."

"So, Neptune…" Weiss began to ask. "...where are you from?"

"Haven." He answered, walking up to the Heiress. "...and I don't believe I've caught your name... _snow angel._ "

"Um…" Weiss stuttered for a moment before answering. "I'm Weiss."

For a moment, I thought I heard Jaune mumble "Are you kidding me?", but I think it was my imagination pulling tricks on me.

"Pleasure to meet you." Neptune replied, smiling. Meanwhile, Sun leaned down to look at Blake's deck of cards.

"You know, I never saw you as the board game playing type." He commented.

"Right…" Blake responded, slumping before getting to her feet. "Well, I think I'm done playing, actually. See you guys later." She said, before walking off.

At this point, Nora finally woke up and saw what was going on. After a moment, the orange haired girl shrugged. "Women." She stated, bluntly. For a moment everyone stared at her, before I broke the silence.

"Well, if you want to play Jaune, go ahead." I said, turning my head towards Trunks...only to find he wasn't there.

 **Blake Belladonna**

 _A little while later…_

I sat on my bed, allowing my thoughts to drift throughout my mind. There we so many things to think about, most un-nerving. Ultimately I settled on the talk I had with Ozpin, only a few hours after the incident at the docs.

It had been so long ago, but I could remember it so clearly. Ozpin had started off rather casually, slowly moving the topic of conversation towards what he wanted to know. He asked me why I hid my identity as a faunus, so I explained myself.

"I'd rather avoid any unnecessary attention." I explained to the headmaster. "I want people to see me for who I am, not what I am."

"...and what _are_ you?" Ozpin asked.

"I...don't understand what you're asking." I replied, confused.

He got right to the point. "How did you know the White Fang would be at the shipyard tonight?"

"I didn't…" I clarified. "I just happened to be at the right place at the right time."

"You wouldn't have been the first." Ozpin stated, leaning back in his chair. "...but what happened tonight was not an isolated incident. I may be your headmaster, but I am also a huntsman, and it is my sworn duty to protect from the forces that conspire against it."

"Blake…" He began, his tone becoming serious. "Are you sure there is nothing else you'd like to tell me?"

I stared for a moment, considering my options. "I'm sure." I finally told him.

Ozpin didn't look particularly pleased, but he seemed to accept my decision. "Very well." He told me, getting out of his chair. "Thank you for your time...Ms. Belladonna."

My thoughts were interrupted when the dormitory door opened. "Ugh! We should have never let him play!" Yang yelled as she entered the room. Ruby and Weiss followed shortly after.

"You're just mad because the new guy beat you!" Ruby mocked. "See, if you just attacked when I told you, none of this would've happened!"

I wasn't comfortable in this cheery environment. I didn't see exactly what there was to be happy about, so I tried to leave the room. However, Weiss stopped me before I could even grab the doorknob.

"Stop!" She told me, pointing her finger in my direction. "Lately you've been quiet, anti-social, and moody."

"Uh...have you met Blake?" Yang commented, but Weiss ignored her.

"Which, I get, is kinda your 'thing', but you've been doing it more than usual." The heiress spoke. "Which, quite frankly, is unacceptable! You made a promise to me, to ALL of us, that you would let us know if something was wrong. So, What. Is. Wrong?"

"I just…" I started, trying to explain myself. "I don't understand how everyone can be so calm."

Ruby had her puppy dog eyes on, looking sad. "You're still thinking about Torchwick." She examined.

"Torchwick, the White Fang, all of it!" I exclaimed. "Something big is happening and no one is doing anything about it!"

"Ozpin told us not to worry." Yang comforted. "Between the police and the huntsmen, I'm sure they can handle it."

"Well I'm NOT!" I countered. "They don't know the White Fang like I do."

Weiss, Ruby, and Yang just stared at each other for a moment, before Weiss spoke up.

"Okay…" She said. "Between blowing up nightclubs, stopping thieves, and fighting for freedom, I'm sure the three of you are all ready to go out and apprehend these ne'er-do-wells."

"Uh...who?" Ruby asked, her childish side seeping through.

"But, let me once again be the voice of reason." The heiress continued. "We're students. We're not ready to handle this sort of situation."

"Well...yeah, but…" Ruby started, but Weiss interrupted her.

"We're NOT ready!" She repeated.

"And we may never BE ready!" I yelled. "Our enemies aren't just gonna sit around and wait for graduation day! They're out there, somewhere, planning their next move, and none of us know what it is, but it's coming! Whether we're ready, or not."

Everyone was silent for a moment, until our leader spoke. "Okay…" Ruby smiled, a plan already forming in her mind. "All in favor of being the youngest huntresses to single-handedly bring down a corrupt organisation conspiring against the Kingdom of Vale...say I!"

"Yes!" Yang cried out, pointing towards me. "I love it when you're feisty."

"Well, I guess it could be fun." Weiss admitted.

"None of you said 'I'..." Ruby pouted.

"Alright then." I announced. "We're in this together."

"Let's hatch a plan!" Ruby said, excitedly. Before her face suddenly became horror-stricken. "I left my board game in the library!"

Weiss facepalmed, as Ruby rushed out of the room.

 **Ruby Rose**

I don't know how I forgot that board game, I guess I was just caught up in my sister's anger at (finally) losing. I could only hope no one had messed with it while it was left unattended.

Before I could reach the library though, I ended up running into someone. I fell right on my tush, groaning for a moment, before apologising for not looking where I was going. "Are you...OK?" I asked.

"I'm fine." Said the girl I had bumped into, helping me to my feet."...Just watch where you're going." She was wearing a school uniform, but it was clearly not one I was familiar with. She also had some very distinct green hair, and red eyes. Next to her was a man in a similar uniform, with very unkempt grey hair and orange-ish eyes.

"Oh...right...sorry!" I apologised once again. "I'm Ruby! Are you new?"

"Visiting from Haven, actually." Said another female voice. The green haired girl scooted to the side, revealing another woman in the same uniform (evidently the Haven school uniform, I'm an idiot for not remembering that.) She had long black hair that covered the side of her face, and the one eye I could see was orange, almost fire-like in nature.

In fact...she almost seemed familiar.

" _Nah…"_ I said to myself, dismissing the thought. Why would that fire lady from the store be here? "Ooooh!" I spoke after a moment, giddy. "You're here for the festival! Oh, but exchange students have their own dormitory."

"I guess we just got turned around." Said the grey haired student.

I chuckled. "Don't worry, happens all the time! Um...you're building is juuussst east of here."

"Thanks." The black haired woman replied. "Maybe we'll see you around."

"Yeah, maybe!" I agreed. "Oh, and welcome to Beacon!"

The students just walked away, not speaking another word.

 **So, hey, this story gets Cinder and Co. in it now, yay! I mean, it's basically just me copying the subtitles of the episode, but hey, it means things are getting good, right?**

 **Anyway, I'll see you guys next month, assuming I take EXACTLY the deadline to get the new story chapter out, and then obviously chapter 10 of A Different Past.**

 **Before I go to the reviews, let me give you one more (or just one if you don't count the favor for a friend as a hint) hint. I'm finally giving in and doing a shipping story. (Sorta)**

 **WolfShadow96:** Glad to see you understand why I've nerfed Trunks, and I've been trying to make my chapters longer. Now, with this new story, it's gonna take a little longer to get chapters out, but don't worry, once School ends, I'll probably be able to get chapters out a lot faster! So just wait a few weeks!

 **Gravenimage:** Good to hear! Thanks, man!

 **Guest (1):** Nailed it! Nailed it completely!

 **Guest (2):** I LOVE that idea, but I've already established rules that go against it, so sadly...I can't do it. I know you told me specifically NOT to do this, but I would LOVE to see you, or ANYONE else write that, it sounds so cool!


	11. A Not So-Minor Hiccup

**Sorry about the long wait, guys. Power Within chapters 1 and 2 took way longer than they really should of, but I managed to get THIS chapter out in a week, so _hopefully_ I can keep that up.  
**

 **Anyway, enjoy.**

 **Ruby Rose**

It was finally Friday.

Classes were done.

The plans had already been decided.

We had just suited up.

Operation Fang was in motion!

"I thought class would never end." Blake commented, putting on her...bracelet...things.

"Alright guys, today's the day!" I yelled, jumping off of my bed in excitement. "The investigation, begins!"

I almost came down on Weiss by accident. "I'm glad to see we're taking this SO seriously." She responded, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, we've got a plan." Yang said, defending my actions. "That's...moderately serious."

"Right!" I spoke, trying to get the conversation back on track "Everyone remember their roles?"

"Of course." Weiss responded, her tone very calculating and organised. "You and I will head to the CCT and check the Schnee records for any other Dust robberies or inconsistencies. Seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be much of a problem."

Blake was the next to relay her role. "The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out order and the recruit new members." She had her hands behind her back, almost looking more heiress-y than Weiss. "If I can get in, I can hopefully find out what they're planning."

Finally, my sister Yang. "I have an old friend on the shady side of town that typically knows _everything_ that goes on in Vale." Her arms were crossed, a confident smirk on her face. "Getting information out of him shouldn't be too hard."

"Great!" I spoke, all of our roles explained. "We'll meet up tonight near Yang to go over what we've found."

"Yeah!" Said a voice from behind us. Surprised, we all turned our heads and found Sun, hanging outside the window with his faunus tail.

"Sun!" I shouted, taking a few steps back in shock.

"How did you...even get up here?" Yang asked, puzzled.

"Aw, it's easy." The monkey faunus explained. "I do it all the time."

"You do WHAT?!" Weiss yelled.

"I climb trees all the time." Sun clarified, somehow still oblivious to why Weiss seemed upset. With a quick flick of his tail, Sun jumped into our quarters before continuing to speak. "So...are we finally getting back at that Torchwick guy?"

Blake stepped up to answer the question, which I suppose was only appropriate. "We are going to investigate the situation…" She gestured to us. "...as a team."

"Sorry Sun…" I sheepishly apologized. "We don't want to get friends involved if we don't have to."

Sun shrugged me off. "That's stupid." He replied. "You should always get friends involved. That's why I brought Neptune." We all looked out of the window and saw the blue haired Neptune, standing on the weird mini-platform buildings have for some reason.

"'Sup." He smirked.

"How did you even get up there?" I questioned, repeating my sister from earlier.

"I have my ways." Was his simple answer. Quickly afterwards, he replaced his confident look with a more worried one. "Seriously though, can I come in? We're like...really high up."

After a few moments of incredibly dangerous pulling, we took the time to modify our plan so that Sun and Neptune could be involved as well. I was still going with Weiss, so it made sense to have our new additions go with the other two. "Sun, you can go with Blake." I explained. "And Neptune, you can go with Yang because she doesn't have a partner. Everyone good?"

"Actually, Ruby…" Weiss spoke up, which surprised me. I thought I had a pretty good plan. "Why don't you go with Yang. After all, she _is_ your sister."

"...but Weiss, who would go with you, then?"

"Well…" Weiss wondered, seemingly thinking about it. "...I guess Neptune could come with me."

I thought for a second, but immediately laughed it off. "Nah!" I said, pulling Weiss along out of our room.

It didn't take more than 30 minutes for us to reach our destination. I had seen the CCT before, but that didn't stop me from staring in wonder at the magnificence of the tower. It was so large, and there was so much put into its construction.

"You should see the one in Atlas." Weiss commented, apparently having noticed my amazement of the tower.

I hadn't seen it before, but I had done some research. "That was the first one, right?" I asked.

"Correct." The heiress clarified. "Atlas developed the cross-continental transmit system to allow the four kingdoms to communicate with each other. It was their gift to the world after the Great War."

I was about to respond, when I heard a kind voice that ironically sent chills up my spine. "Hey Ruby! What are you up to?"

Both Weiss and I stopped dead in our tracks for a moment, before slowly turning around to meet the person who had greeted us. " _Please don't be Trunks."_ I begged in my head. " _Don't be Trunks. Don't be Trunks!"_

It was Trunks.

" _Drat!"_ Don't get me wrong, I liked Trunks. He was my mentor and he was my friend...but he was also an adult. An adult that could easily tell Ozpin something that we don't want him to know.

You know...like how we're trying to single handedly take down the White Fang AND Roman Torchwick. Even I have to admit, that's a bit overboard for 4 students. Still, I'm sure we can pull it off. The teachers probably won't see it that way though, and I'm willing to bet Trunks would feel the same. "Well Trunks...er... sensei Trunks...you see...we just went out...to….things...see…"

Before I could finish my terrible (even by my standards) lie, Weiss pushed me out of the way and gave her own explanation. "Ruby here wanted to take a tour of the CCT tower, and after _countless_ requests, I finally caved in."

Trunks raised an eyebrow and took a look at me. I knew that look, as I had seen my father give it to Yang several times. With just an expression, I was being interrogated. "Is that true?" was what it asked me. In response, I gave a nervous nod.

Trunks didn't seem entirely convinced, but he backed off. "Alright then." The half-saiyan spoke in a cheerful, but suspicious, voice. "I'll leave you to it. Training tomorrow, Ruby?"

Still on the ground, I nodded again. "Yeah, of course!" I replied enthusiastically.

He smiles for a moment, before turning around and walking away. Once he was out of sight, Weiss helped me back to my feet. "You dunce!" She scolded. "He's onto us now! You should have just let me answer him, we both know you can't lie."

"Sorry…" I apologized. "...but he asked me, and it would have been rude not to respond. I didn't know what to do."

The heiress sighed. "This never would have happened if you didn't beg to go to the tower. We could have easily just made a call from the library."

Trying to put that experience behind me, I let myself smile again. "Well yeah, but the tower is so COOL! I'm gonna take a picture." I started to take out my scroll, but it slipped out my hands and fell on the floor. Scrolls were pretty durable, so it falling to the concrete wasn't very dangerous, but I was surprised when I noticed who it landed near.

Penny.

"You dropped this." She said politely, picking up my scroll and handing to me. When she saw it was me, her expression dropped slightly.

"Penny?" I asked, making sure I wasn't seeing things. We hadn't seen her since the fight with Torchwick, so it was odd to suddenly see her now.

"Uh…" She hesitated, clearly just as surprised to see us as we were to see her.

"We haven't seen you since the night at the docks!" I explained. "Where have you been?!"

"S-sorry. I think you're confused." She replied, pretending that she didn't know what I was talking about. Luckily, she appeared to be as bad at lying as me. She threw my scroll at me, and ran away. "I've got to go!" She cried as he left us.

Weiss turned to me, bewildered. "What was that about?"

"I don't know…" I answered, before chasing after my recently made friend. "...but I'm going to find out."

 **Trunks Briefs**

Ruby was acting weird. Weirder than usual, at least. It was clear there was something she and Weiss weren't telling me, but I knew it was pointless to push the subject.

Still, that won't stop me from getting to the bottom of the situation.

Once I was out of their sight, I immediately started sensing for Yang and Blake's ki. I found Yang almost instantly, as she wasn't too far from town. I sensed what I remembered as Neptune with her, as well as a whole bunch of neutral energy. For whatever reason, Yang and Neptune were hanging out in the shady part of town. If it wasn't for Ruby's actions earlier, I likely would have just passed it off, as it wasn't my business. Now though, I got a bit more suspicious. I didn't want to jump to conclusions, but I got the idea that RWBY was planning something. Going back to Ruby and Weiss likely would have been faster, but Yang's location seemed a bit more out of the ordinary.

Lifting my body off the ground, I sped off towards Yang. When I got closer, I found that she was at a bar I had actually heard of before. It was run by a shady business owner nicknamed "Junior". I had heard rumors that he supplied Roman Torchwick with the men he needed to rob "From Dust Till Dawn" a few months ago. It would make sense for a huntress to investigate this place, but that didn't exactly explain why Yang was here.

I opened the doors of the club and immediately spotted Yang, Neptune by her side. She was talking to what prior research had told me was Junior. At the same time I came in, however, the suited men in the pub drew out their guns and pointed them at me. It was oddly coordinated, as if it wasn't the first time they had done it this day. Despite having their guns on me, they were clearly terrified, and I couldn't blame them. I'm sure I was well known throughout Vale, if not all of Remnant. If I showed up to a pub typically accused of housing a criminal corporation, it would be clear I was there to investigate something. Even Yang looked shocked to see me, much like Ruby and Weiss.

"Trunks…?" The blond wondered aloud. "...what are you doing here."

I would have responded immediately, but I had another pressing matter. Peering my eyes across the crowd of hired guns, I spoke calmly. "I think we all know that not a single one of your weapons would do more than scar my clothes." I threatened. "So I suggest that you put the guns down. Now."

Most of the men did what I had asked of them, and let their weapons fall to the floor. The few that didn't took a glance at their boss, who was just as fear-stricken as them. Junior gave a slight nod, and every mercenary dropped their weapons. That situation handled, I began walking over to Yang and Neptune.

"What on earth is going on here?" I demanded. I wanted answers, and I wanted them now.

"Uh…" Neptune seemed extremely uncomfortable with the situation, even without my presence.

"It's...uh...nothing to worry about, Trunks." Yang tried to convince me to leave. "I've got this under control…"

"I don't doubt that, Yang." I interrupted. "What I want to know, is what you and the rest of your team are planning."

For a second, Yang looked surprised. She tried to hide it, but it was pointless. I had already caught her shock. "Planning? What are you talking about?" She fibbed.

"Lying won't help your case."

The blond sighed, realizing that resistance was futile. "Fine. Blake was uneasy about the White Fang and Torchwick after that fight at the docks, so we decided to figure out what they were up to."

"All of you?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. Ruby, Weiss, myself, all of us. Ruby and Weiss went to the CCT to see if anything was amiss, Blake and Sun went to a White Fang recruitment meeting, and Neptune and I headed here to get some information out of _this_ guy." She said, nodding towards Junior.

That made enough sense, but then I realized something. "Back up." I responded. "Blake and Sun are heading WHERE?!"

 **Blake Belladonna**

We were there.

It didn't take too long to find. Being a former member I knew most, if not all, of the potential spots the White Fang would hold their meetings. After some minor searching, I found the three clawed scratch mark that the White Fang used to mark their spot.

"This is it." I told Sun as we hid behind a wall.

"You sure?" Sun asked absentmindedly. I shot him a look.

"Y'know…" He replied. "I'm just gonna take your word for it."

With that settled, we began to walk into the meeting sight. Quickly, I removed my bow, making my faunus features obvious. We kept our pace slow, in an attempt to avoid any unwanted attention. It was sort of funny when I thought about it. No matter what I'm doing, it seems I'm always hiding something. It was rather humorous, but mostly it was depressing.

I pulled out two grimm masks and handed one to Sun. Even though we had gone over this plan several times before, Sun still seemed confused about the masks. "I don't get it." He confessed. "If you believe what you're doing is right, why hide who you are?"

I had practically memorized the answer. "The masks are symbols." I explained. "Humanity wanted to make monsters out of us, so we chose to don the faces of monsters."

"That's...kinda dark." The monkey faunus noted.

"So was the guy who started it." I grimly answered. Without another word, I put on my mask and walked into the meeting.

"It's all sunshine and rainbows with you…" I heard Sun mutter.

 **Yang Xiao Long**

Things were going from bad to worse. Not only did Junior seem to have nothing on the White Fang, but I was suddenly caught by Trunks of all people. TRUNKS! I mean, Professor Port and Oobleck, maybe even Glynda, were one thing, but TRUNKS? He wasn't even technically a teacher, and yet he certainly had the presence of one. The only thing I had to be thankful for in this situation was that it wasn't Ozpin himself, though I had a feeling that he wouldn't be far behind.

"Look, I'm sorry we didn't tell you!" I apologized. "...but we knew you'd just try and stop us."

"Of course I would!" Trunks yelled, not in a mean way, but in a tone that showed concern. I've heard it from my father more than a few times. "I'm going to leave you to this, I've got no doubt you can handle a club of goons, but I'm getting Blake and Sun out! You guys are STUDENTS! Getting information is one thing, but heading straight into the heart of the enemy is something completely different!"

I sighed. That was the exact response I was prepared for. "Trunks, we can handle this on our own…"

He didn't even give me a chance to finish. "No, Yang, you can't. You're incredibly strong, every single member of your team has the potential to be something great. Right now though, you're just students. I understand the feeling of being helpless. Trust me, that was every other moment of my life. However, you NEED to know when to back off."

I felt my eyes flash red for a moment before I calmed down. I knew EXACTLY what he was talking about. I guess I didn't see it in that light the first time.

"I'm heading after Blake and Sun. I've already wasted enough time here." The saiyan growled, not out of anger, but pure concern. Trunks flew out of the parlor without another word. I heard a collective sigh of relief from Junior's goons. Clearly he scared them even more than I did, which made sense. I couldn't exactly shoot lasers out of my hands.

I turned my head back to Junior. "Now, where were we?"

The crime boss shook his head. "How many times do I have to say 'I don't know' before you take a hint?!"

 **Weiss Schnee**

I couldn't believe the nerve of my partner. She dragged me all this way to the CCT just so she could gape at it, and then she just runs off! Leaving me to do the job myself! Granted this really was more of a one person job, but it was a matter of principle!

Regardless, I carried on to do the job we were _supposed_ to do. I had already talked to the holographic assistant, and I was now sitting in Terminal 3, waiting for my call to be patched in. I sighed for a moment, preparing myself.

The screen lit up, and I saw a brown haired woman appear on the phone. "Thank you for calling the Atlas-" She started, clearly looking down at a script. She must be new to her job. "Oh, Miss Schnee. Good afternoon! Would you like me to patch you in to your father?" She asked. "I think your sister Winter is here too."

I had no interest in talking to my Father, but I hesitated when I heard my sister's name. " _No._ " I thought to myself. " _I don't have time for distractions._ "

"No thank you." I replied politely. "I was actually wondering if you could find some files for me. I've compiled a short list." I took out my scroll and plugged it into the console. A few beeps later, and the woman on the other line received my notes.

"I see…" She replied. "If you don't mind...what may I ask is this for?"

"School Project." I gave my rehearsed response.

She took another look at the list. "Um...there are some sensitive documents on this list, ma'am."

"Well then, I'll be sure to treat them with care."

"Right…" She eyed me suspiciously, and for a moment I thought I'd have to come up with some more lies on the spot. Luckily, she simply moved on. "The data is being transferred to your Scroll right now.

"Wonderful!" I responded. "That'll be all then."

"Are you sure you don't want me to patch you in with your father before you go?" The woman asked.

"I'm sure." I replied without a second thought.

"Well then, have a nice day." The assistant smiled and faded into the black that signaled the call as complete.

Mission accomplished.

 **Ruby Rose**

My legs were hurting. Really bad.

It took a LOT of searching to find Penny. Which is weird, because you'd think someone like her would stand out in a crowd. I finally found her around some bleak looking diner. It took a bit of convincing, but I managed to keep her from running away. After that though, everything ran smoothly...kind of.

"I wish I could help you, Ruby." The orange haired girl discussed. "...but I don't know anything about those men."

"Well, what happened to you that night?" I asked, hoping to get the answers I had been wanting for almost a month now. "We were all together and then you just disappeared. Were you kidnapped?"

"Oh no! Nothing like that." Penny replied, shaking her head. Her voice seemed odd, like she was trying to be concerned or something like that, but it didn't sound right somehow. It wasn't like she was lying, that much was clear to me. I couldn't put my finger on what was wrong...something just WAS.

"Well then, where did you go?" I questioned.

"I've never been in another kingdom before." Penny began to explain. "My father asked me not venture out too far, but…" She suddenly realized that she might need to back up her explanation a bit. "You have to understand, my father loves me very much. He just worries a lot."

"Believe me, I know the feeling." I chuckled slightly. "...but why not let us know you were OK?"

"I was asked...not to talk to you." Penny hesitated. "...or Weiss...or Blake...or Yang. Anybody really."

I smiled a little bit. Not because I thought this was good news, but because it was nice to talk to my friend again. "Was your dad that upset?" I wondered.

"No…" Penny admitted. "It...wasn't my father."

Before the girl could finish, I heard a voice I recognized as the Headmaster of Atlas, Professor Ironwood. I had ran into him a few times in the hallway, since he had come here with his students for the Vytal festival.

"The AK130 has been a standard security model of Remnant for several years." He announced. When we went to get a better look at what was happening, we saw what I could only assume was a holographic presentation. And by that, I mean Ironwood was in holographic form. Everything else was physical. "And they have done a fine job. Wouldn't you agree?"

We watched him for a moment, and I quickly zoned out. The military equipment of Atlas always interested me. The technology put into such machines had to be incredible. The headmaster revealed his new line of robotic soldiers, the Atlesian Knights, machines created to protect the kingdoms in the place of Huntsmen and Huntresses. They'll never completely replace them, of course, but nobody's going to argue about more defenses against the Grimm.

"Smarter, Sleeker, and admittedly, a little less scary." He described them. I couldn't help but stare at them in awe. They almost looked human. For a brief moment, I wondered if it was possible for a robot to be impossible to tell from a human. I quickly shook the thought off, but it was still a cool idea to think about.

Of course, that wasn't all Ironwood revealed. "The Atlesian Military has always supported the idea of removing men from the dangers of the battlefield." The headmaster began to explain. "However, there are still many situations that undoubtedly require a human touch."

With those words, a huge hologram appeared behind him. My mouth opened wide open at the sight of the machine. It was a giant mecha, something I only ever expected to see in one of Yang's old comic books. It had duel guns instead of arms, and there were several other weapons I honestly didn't recognize. I had to hold back my squees of joy, it looked that amazing.

"The Atlesian Paladin" he called it. I wanted to keep watching and see more of this amazing technology, but I was snapped back to reality when I felt Penny nudge me on the shoulder. "Ruby...maybe we should go someplace else."

I didn't even get a chance to respond before she ran off. "Penny?!" I shouted, even though I knew it wasn't going to stop her. "Wait! Where are you going?!"

I figured that after our talk, she wouldn't just run away for no reason. I turned my head to see what made her run off, and I saw a couple Atlesian soldiers chasing after her.

" _That can't be good._ " I underthought.

I had no idea why those guys were chasing after her, but it was clear I that didn't have time to figure it out. I ran after my orange haired friend, doing my best to lose the soldiers that were chasing us down. After going through a couple (surprisingly not dark) alleyways, I found a stack of several boxes, only being held by what was for all intents and purposes a wooden stool. Quickly, I whipped out Crescent Rose and cut down the supporting beams. The boxes fell right behind me, blocking the way. Still, I wasn't going to take any chances, so I sped off towards Penny. I hopped off a wall (I'm awesome!) to bounce myself towards her, before grabbing her and trying to speed off with my semblance. I didn't get very far before I was to tired to keep going, as I wasn't very skilled in carrying someone AND speeding off. I dropped Penny, who luckily stopped rolling fairly quickly.

I however, wasn't so lucky. My momentum kept me going for quite a few more feet, and where I landed was less than ideal. I wasn't even entirely sure what the ground below me was for a moment, until I heard the horns honking. " _Oh crap._ " I yelled internally.

I was on the road.

I braced for the impact, but instead I felt something push me back onto the sidewalk, and then a loud crash. I jumped up to my feet, and what I saw...it was shocking to say the least.

The truck that I assumed was going to lead me to my demise was stopped, two large dents in the front. Penny was standing right in front of it, her hands holding onto the vehicle in the same spot as the two dents. It didn't take long for the obvious conclusion to seep into my brain.

"Penny…?" I asked, very confused.

For the moment, the orange haired girl ignored me. Instead, she looked up at the driver and checked on him. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Uh-huh." The old man inside nodded.

Slowly, the girl backed away from motor vehicle and turned her head at me. She glanced down at her hands, then at the crowd that had suddenly appeared after her incredible feat. Then she ran, pushing me out of the way yet again as she went into another alley. Instantly, I chased after her.

"Penny, come back!" I yelled, trying to persuade her to stop. Whether it was because she heard me or she was just too tired to run I wasn't sure, but she _did_ stop running, allowing me to catch up. "Penny please! What is going on? Why are you running?! How did you do that?!" I scrambled, several questions entering my mind all at once.

"I-I can't! Everything's fine! I don't want to talk about it!"

"Penny, if you can just tell me what's wrong, I could help you." I pleaded with the orange haired girl.

"No no no!" Penny shook, looking around rapidly at her surroundings. "You wouldn't understand!"

"At least let me try!" I asked once more. "You can trust me."

She ran up right in my face, still squirrely. "You're my friend right?" She questioned. "You promise you're my friend?!"

"I promise."

"Ruby…" Penny showed her palms to me, revealing a metal frame beneath her skin. I saw what appeared to be a metallic skeleton, like a robot...but that couldn't be right...

"I'm not...a real girl." She explained.

"...Oh." Was all I could manage to sputter out.

 **Trunks Briefs**

I was flying full speed towards Blake's location. I had no idea what she was thinking, doing something as stupid as that. Yes, Blake used to be a member of the White Fang so she would know how it operates, but she's still a student. I was probably too late to stop them from trying, but I might be able to stop them from failing.

Or at least help them get out of the mess they had made.

I hated that I hadn't caught on to the situation quicker. If I had just looked for Blake instead of Yang, I might have been able to get her out of there. Now though, I could sense that Blake was already with the other faunus. I couldn't get her out of there without causing a scene. It's possible I could speak to her telepathically, but I doubted Blake would listen to reason, even if I was right in front of her.

It didn't take long at all for me to reach the meeting site. I could easily knock everyone out, but since I was already there I figured I should probably get some information first. I hovered above the building, looking for the entrances. I found the front entrance easily, but I couldn't go in through there without attracting immediate attention. There had to be a back door or something.

" _Yes!_ " I smirked. It wasn't obvious, the White Fang was better than that, but there was clearly some sort of opening that I could get through. Technically I could make my own opening, but if I was going to do that I might as well go through the front door. Hopefully if I could stay unnoticed, I could sabotage whatever the White Fang was planning with minimum attention. If the White Fang noticed me they'd panic, and Kami knows what they'll try and do if they panic. Blake and Sun were still in there, so it wasn't just me that I had to worry about.

Silently, I dropped down towards the back entrance. The cracks were small, making it almost invisible to the untrained eye. For me however, it was nothing more than a cheap trick. I laid my hand on where I assumed the lock would be, and starting heating it with my Ki. It only took a few seconds before the door simply opened with no resistance. Behind it, a faunus with short blond hair looked surprised to see me. He started to open his mouth, likely to yell and get backup, but I dashed over and knocked him out with a quick chop to the neck.

After moving the unconscious faunus out of sight, I started to trek through the building. For a small building, there were a lot of twists and turns. If I couldn't sense aura, it would be easy to get lost. By following Blake's ki, I eventually found where the meeting was taking place...and something else.

A giant mecha laid behind the curtain. I recognized the design as Atlas's latest military weapon, the Atlesian Paladin. It looked identical to the designs I had taken a look at, with the exception of the White Fang's logo painted on the side. I couldn't help but question how in the world the White Fang got hold of these things. Even Roman Torchwick wouldn't be capable of stealing something like that on his own.

" _Wait…_ " I suddenly realized. " _Amber's attackers are supposed to be in the area...but they can't be working together, can they?_ ". I wasn't sure, but it was certainly something I'd have to bring up with Ozpin...and Torchwick.

The fact of the matter was that at the moment, I couldn't destroy that machine without causing a panic in the building. Panic was still better than the alternative though, so I began to charge a ki blast in my hand. I pointed my palm towards the large mecha, but before I could fire, I heard someone yell.

"The Alien!" A female voice yelled. "He's here!"

Almost immediately, the sheet that hid the Paladin was rolled up, revealing who was on the stage. I recognized Roman in the middle, who had a severe "Are you serious?!" expression on his face, and there was another Faunus with a fancy mask on his left who was likely the Lieutenant or something like that. The girl on Roman's right confused me, though. Her long hair was pink on one side, but brown on the other. Her irises showed a similar color scheme. Her jacket reminded me of my own in length, but she wore it closed and it was white, with the exception of the pink on the edges. Underneath her jacket was a short black shirt, as well as pants that were the same color. In her gloved hands she held a closed pink umbrella that, if Roman was any indication, was likely her weapon.

When Roman noticed my presence, he immediately took out his weapon and had it pointed directly at me. It seemed the rest of the soldiers followed his lead, taking out their guns, ready to kill.

"Well, well, well…" Roman laughed. "If it isn't the space monkey? Long time no see." When he saw my uncharged hand clench into a fist, he chuckled again. "Struck a nerve, did I?"

"You have no idea." I muttered. When I thought about it, Roman and Freeza were a lot alike in personality, though the thief luckily couldn't destroy planets. "Congrats, Roman. You caught me." I smirked, knowing that I still had control of the situation. "...but we both know that even if you could hurt me with those pea shooters, you wouldn't be able to stop me from destroying your little robot."

"Oh please." Roman rolled his eyes. "Ever since you showed up, Atlas' military has been trying to adapt its technology to your power. It's gonna take a lot more than that little ball of light to even scratch it's paint job."

"Then I'll make it stronger." I responded, not a tint of humor in my voice. "You lose, Roman. You can't do anything to me."

Roman actually hesitated for a second, apparently concerned that I called his bluff. His smirk quickly returned however, as he snapped his fingers. On cue, a couple of members in the crowd suddenly pulled out knives and put them to the throats of two others. It only took me a moment to figure out who they were holding hostage.

Blake and Sun. Now things were much more difficult.

"I think he found us." Sun noted to the cat faunus. Blake didn't even dignify it with a response.

"If you so much as think about firing one of those silly lasers of yours…" Roman explained. "Those two die."

Damn it! What was I supposed to do. It's possible that if I focused my attention on Blake and Sun's attackers I could get them free, but it wasn't a chance I wanted to take. I decided to play it safe and wait for another opportunity.

"How'd you even manage to get your hands on that machine, Torchwick?" I asked, hoping to get some answers.

"Oh, wouldn't YOU like to know." Roman exclaimed, twirling his cane for a brief moment before pointing it at me again. Clearly he wasn't in the mood to share secrets. After that, there was a brief silence, as I continued to look for a way out of my situation.

Luckily I didn't have to. Carefully, Blake managed to take out Gambol Shroud in it's pistol form, and fired a shot that knocked her captor away. Before the other one could react, Sun took out his weapon with his tail and knocked his assailant out.

"Run!" Blake shouted as she and Sun dashed out an open window. For a second, everyone stared in awe, until Roman broke the silence.

"Get them, you idiots!" He shouted, running towards the Padalin, his intentions clear. There wasn't enough time to destroy the mecha, but there was enough time to stop Torchwick from getting in it.

"Oh no you don't!" I yelled as I flew straight into Roman with my fist. To my surprise, the thief seemed to shatter into pieces. For a moment, I stood there confused. There's no way I could have used that much power, that should have just knocked him out at worse. Then I remembered the pink and brown haired girl. Hopefully this was just some sort of illusion semblance.

"Over here, monkey-boy!" I heard Torchwick say from behind me, confirming my suspicions. I turned my head and saw the Atlesian Paladin "fist" ram itself straight into my chest. The force of the punch sent me flying through the wall behind me. I was just getting back on my feet when I saw the Mecha destroy what was left of the wall as it chased after me. I quickly leapt into the air to follow Blake and Sun. I needed to get this fight out of the town, ASAP.

 **Ruby Rose**

After Penny revealed that she was a robot to me, it didn't take much to get her to calm down. She seemed to consider herself "not real", but I told her that just because she didn't have organs and blood like the rest of us didn't mean she was any less alive. She had free will, she had aura, and that meant she had a soul. Just because she wasn't a traditional human or faunus didn't mean she wasn't "real".

After that, she hid me in a dumpster (it...made sense in context), and went back with the Atlas soldiers. Apparently they were just trying to protect her.

Now that they were gone, I got out of the trash box and started dusting my clothes off. Before I could walk away though, I heard my scroll ring.

 **Weiss Schnee**

I had looked through the files and unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you saw it, there were quite a few things relating to the White Fang in them. I wasn't sure how much of the information would really be useful, but at least it was something.

As I was double checking the files, I suddenly got a call…

...from Blake?

 **Yang Xiao Long**

"I can't believe he didn't have anything." I muttered as I got back on my motorbike. Neptune seemed to hesitate for a second, but after I shot him a look he got on with me. After revving the motor a bit, I sped off. "I'm still convinced he was lying, but nothing I did got him talking."

I was really talking to myself, as Neptune was too busy being terrified of the drive. Honestly, if I wasn't in such a bad mood, it would of been humorous. I likely would have continued to rant for the entire drive if I hadn't felt my scroll ring in my pocket. If we weren't trying to single handedly take down a criminal organization, I likely would have just let it ring. Considering the situation though, I had a feeling something important was going on. I quickly pulled over and stopped the bike, then took out my scroll to answer.

"What's going on?" Neptune asked, after sighing in relief.

"It's a call from Blake." I noted, before clicking the button to accept it.

The call seemed to be sent to the rest of the team as well, as it seemed like I missed some of the message. "They've got a robot! And it's really really big!" A voice that I recognized as Sun yelled. "The Torchwick guy's in it! But not like...it didn't eat him! He's like...controlling it or something."

"Where are you guys?!" I asked, right before I heard a scream. I turned my head and saw Blake and Sun running from some sort of giant robot.

"Uh...I think that was them." Neptune commented.

"Yeah, I got it!" I sarcastically responded, before revving up the bike and speeding after my partner.

 **I'm pretty darn happy with how this chapter came out, and I have two ideas that I'm really excited to put out. One is** **DEFINITELY going to be next chapter, while the other will either be next chapter, or the one after that.**

 **On a totally unrelated note, I found this really cool Ice Cream shop the other day that has _17_ flavors and _18_ different toppings. I'll tell you, that's one thing to _Cell_ abrate.**

 **:)**

 **On to the reviews.**

 **SuperSaiyajin4Vegeta:** Try going through Hell for your entire life, literally DYING at one point, and then having a figure of importance say "I Don't believe you.". Logical conclusion or not, you'd be angry. Also, I doubt he'd be OK with discrimination.

 **Droseralex:** Bulma's a scientist, so coming up with logical and scientific reasons for those things seemed like something she would do. I take my loss there, as it was my mistake.

 **Will Atinkson:** Well wait no more!

 **Guest(1):** I don't need to do research on characters that I grew up on. My mind can't possibly be everywhere at once, but yes, I admit my mistake about the magic thing. However, I DO try to get into Trunks's head, so...yeah. Yes, he's constantly worried about his mother, but worrying won't help when there's nothing he can do at the moment. Getting Ozpin's help to set up the machine is one of the reasons he's trying to find Amber's assailants, though the whole "Help people" thing is the main reason. That's just how Trunks is. Even if Trunks checked his fuel, as DBS has shown us, making Time Machine fuel is no easy task. It took a year with limited supplies, so it would take around a month in ideal conditions for a trip there and back. Remnant isn't an alternate timeline, it's an alternate dimension. As explained in Chapter 3, the timelines and dimensions aren't that different. The time machine, being very delicate and busted from Trunks's time travel, ended up going through the wrong dimensional vortex. The reason he can't get back is the lack of fuel, but the lack of fuel is not why he got sent here.

 **NeoNazo356:** Oh I'm excited to do "End of the Beginning" too. In fact, I've got almost all of Season 3 planned out. Just remember that Yang isn't the ONLY person Trunks knew who lost an arm.

 **Guest(2):** I'm not shipping Trunks with any RWBY character, but thanks for the advice. Check out Power Within if you want a shipping story!


	12. From Bad to Worse

**Oh man, I've been waiting for this for a LONG time. I've been really excited for this chapter since I came up with the ideas for it, though I am a bit worried about how people are going to respond. I personally, feel it's realistic given the situation, but whatever. Just enjoy the latest chapter, I hope it was worth the wait.**

* * *

 **Trunks Briefs**

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" I screamed, dashing straight in front of the Padalin, my arms outstretched. "IF YOU WANT THEM, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO GO THROUGH ME."

Blake and Sun were on the run from Torchwick, and I sure as hell wasn't letting the two of them get in any further danger. I was going to take down this mecha by myself, away from any civilians, and I was going to bring this criminal organization to justice.

"I was hoping you'd say that, Mr. Superman." Roman laughed from inside the mecha. Apparently he had modified the tech beforehand to allow his voice to be amplified. Of course he'd do such a thing...though I wasn't sure exactly how he managed to tamper with the machine. Another mystery to wonder about, I suppose. "I guess Vale can always count on its little goody-two shoes to save the day. You've even got a superhero name! I mean, 'Super Saiyan' rolls off the tongue pretty well, doncha' think?"

"Talk all you want, it's won't change how this is going to end." I responded, still flying in the air. "I'm giving you one more chance. Surrender now, and all you'll have to deal with is a prison sentence."

"Why would I surrender when I clearly have the advantage here, monkey-man?" Roman chuckled.

That was it. Without another word, I rushed the Padalin and lifted it off the ground. I began flying in the air, looking for a mostly uninhabited place to drop Roman and the Mecha to the ground. After a few moments of searching, I found an empty parking lot under a bridge, and I quickly let go of the Padalin. It fell several meters down to the ground, creating a small crater when it finally landed, but there weren't any signs of damage on the mecha.

" _Roman wasn't kidding…_ " I realized. Atlas clearly wasn't fooling around when it came to its defense options, and I knew that this was designed specifically to face off with me. It wasn't something I enjoyed knowing before hand, and I enjoyed its existence even less now.

I flew down towards Roman's vehicle as it managed to get back up. "I told you, this armor is designed to take everything you can throw and more." Roman bragged.

I smirked. It was true that the Paladin's defense capabilities were above average, but when push comes to shove it doesn't stand a chance against me at full power.

"In that case, Roman…" I started, charging my energy. "Let me show you a couple design flaws!" My hair spiked up, turning gold as my blue eyes turned teal. A flaming golden aura of energy covered my body, showing off my new form.

"Take notes, Torchwick. THIS is a Super Saiyan." I wasn't one to brag, but it felt appropriate to do so in this situation, if only for a moment. I AM my father's son, after all. Before Roman had a chance to retort, I sped off towards the mecha, and threw a heavy punch. It wasn't my full power, not even close, but it was strong enough to shatter the Padalin into pieces.

However when the blow connected, nothing happened.

For a second I stood there stunned. Even Roman was silent, as if even he was confused about what had just occurred. My immediate conclusion was that I simply underestimated the strength of the armor. I threw another punch, this time one that was much stronger. Once again, nothing happened. Now incredibly concerned, I threw one more fist at the mecha, this time using as much power as I could use without blowing up all of Vale, and all that occurred was a small dent in the frame.

"I-Is that it?" Roman chuckled, his voice showing signs of confusion and shakiness.

I wasn't sure what was going on, but I knew I had to try something else. As fast as I could manage, I flew in the sky and placed my hands above my head, having one cover the other.

"TAKE THIS!" I cried. "MASENKO-HA!" I began charging the energy in my hands, fully ready to annihilate the mecha with a plasma beam, but as I felt the ball of energy forming in my hands, I felt weaker. Confused, I stopped charging to figure out what was going on. Despite me stopping my attack, I still felt my energy drain at a rapid rate, and I soon found myself falling to the ground, unable to stay in flight.

"What...the heck…" I muttered to myself. I suddenly felt a horrible pain in my chest, which caused me to fall to my knees and double over. What was happening to me? For a moment, I wondered about the heart virus that I had gone back in time to give the antidote to Goku for. I had never experienced it myself, so was it possible that it was just hitting me now?

No, that couldn't be it. I've been in a completely new dimension for months now, if I'd contracted the virus somehow it would have affected me long ago. This had to be something new, but what?

At this point, I was struggling to just to keep myself sitting up. My Super Saiyan form was the only thing giving me the strength to keep from falling, and even then I didn't think I'd have the power to hold it much longer. It felt like something was eating away at my ki, and for the first time since I arrived in Remnant, I felt physically vulnerable. I figured trying to hit the Paladin with another punch was just going to hurt me more than it would help, so I sat there trying to figure out what to do.

"Well, I don't know what's going on here…" Roman boomed from the speakers. "...but I can't say I'm not pleased with it!" The Paladin's shoulders opened up, firing several missiles at me full speed. I was unable to do much besides block, which in my current state did very little to defend myself. I was launched several feet back, bruises and cuts covering every part of my body. I couldn't even get back to a kneeling position at this point, the pain was just too intense and I felt far too weak. Even my Super Saiyan form was impossible to handle, and I reverted to my base state.

Roman's mecha slowly walked towards my location, clearly savoring my current state. All I could do was lay on the ground and watch as the robot's guns began to charge up. If Roman said anything (and I'm sure he did, he just loves to run his mouth), I didn't hear it over all of the ringing in my ears from the previous explosion. Just a few more shots and my aura would be gone, and it wouldn't take much at that point to annihilate me.

Before Torchwick could fire, a red blur hit the Padalin, causing it to take a few steps back in surprise.

* * *

 **Ruby Rose**

"Dangitdangitdangit!" I yelled frantically. I'd assumed Trunks would have this giant robot handled, but he didn't seem to be doing any damage. In fact, it almost seemed like something else was hurting him. When I saw my mentor fall to the ground, clearly in pain, and was knocked several feet by a barrage of missiles, I knew it was time to jump in.

Leaving my team behind me in my hurry, I jumped off the street side we were standing on, and used my semblance to increase my velocity for a greater impact. Mid-fall, I pulled out Crescent Rose, and swung her as hard as I could manage at the Padalin. The machine took a few steps back to assess the situation, which gave me time to check on Trunks.

"Hey...Ruby…" He sputtered out.

"Trunks!" I yelled, worried. "What happened to you?!"

"Don't...know…" He choked out rather unhelpfully.

The rest of my team landed next to us as I was helping Trunks back to his feet. I quickly threw out an order, scared for my mentor. "Blake, besides me you're the fastest one here, so you've got to get Trunks out of danger!" I told Yang's partner.

"Right." Blake answered, hurling Trunks over her shoulder and running away from us. We waited for a moment before turning to face the Padalin.

"Long time no see, Red." Roman boasted. "Guess I should have known you wouldn't be far behind Vale's new superhero. What, are you all "best buds" or something?"

I didn't feel like giving Roman a response. Instead I focused on how I could beat this thing. If it managed to take Trunks' punches, then there was no way we could take it out head on. What we needed was to hit it with some hard sneak attacks, so..."Freezerburn!" I yelled.

"Right!" Weiss and Yang answered simultaneously. Weiss quickly stuck her rapier into the ground, freezing the surrounding area. Meanwhile, Yang leaped into the air, sticking out her fist as she plummeted into the now frozen ground. Just before she landed, she shot a blast out of Ember Celica, the resulting explosion turning the ice into a thick fog that we could run around and hide in.

For a moment, all we tried to dodge the sensors of the Padalin. I was basically coming up with our plan on the fly, so I was gonna need some time to plan things out. I was still racking my brain on how to knock this thing down when I spotted Blake running back towards us. As quickly as I could without making much noise, I dashed over to her location. "Blake, what you doing here?!" I whispered. "Where's Trunks?"

"Safe." She responded. "I wasn't going to leave you guys behind, so I got him far away from here, before lying him down and heading back."

That made sense. As much as I'd like to get Trunks help as soon as possible, we needed to be together if we were going to have any chance at taking this thing down. Then we could get Trunks to safety and figure out what was going on.

Now that Blake was here, though, the plan became a lot easier to develop. "Come on!" I told Blake. "Let's go find the rest of the team, I've got a plan."

Blake nodded silently, following me as we went through the fog. After about a minute of dodging and searching, we found Weiss and Yang. "Alright guys…" I stated when we caught up to them. "Checkmate!"

Weiss and Blake responded instantly to the command that I had assigned prior, running over the robot's legs and attacking it. After a few swipes, Weiss leaped in the air and stabbed one of the Paladin's joints, using a glyph to backflip to safety afterwards. When Roman tried to crush Blake, Weiss used her semblance again to knock Blake back to safety.

"Stay still!" Complained Roman, as he began firing shots repeatedly at Blake and Weiss, who dodged them while backflipping away. When Weiss did a flip in the air, Roman took advantage and shot her out of the sky.

Weiss was smart, though, and managed to send out a yellow beam that landed below Blake, creating what Weiss had explained to me as an "enhancement glyph". A ringing filled my ears as a Blake began to glow golden, though not to the same extent as Trunks as a Super Saiyan. Roman clearly saw this as a threat, and began firing the same missiles he used against Trunks, but with her newfound power, Blake cut each and every explosive in half.

With a shot out of Crescent Rose, I dashed under the Paladin's legs, yelling "Ladybug!" as I passed Blake.

Once I was behind Roman, I shot my weapon again, using the momentum to slash its legs while Blake did the same from the other side. We repeated this process a few times until Roman tried to fire a blast at me. Blake and I leaped in the air, dodging Roman's attempt at an attack, and slammed our weapons into one of the Paladin's arms, knocking it off.

As I landed, I saw Yang running towards Roman's mecha, leaping on top of it and repeatedly punching it. The Padalin responded by dashing forwards, knocking Yang through several pillars until she was forced to let go. Before Yang could fall back to the floor, the Paladin's gun changed into a fist, that launched itself at Yang, punching her through the pillar itself.

Before Roman could continue his assault, he was suddenly knocked back a ball of plasma. I looked in the direction that the attack came from and saw Trunks, clenching his chest with his other hand outstretched.

* * *

 **Trunks Briefs**

Returning to the fight probably wasn't my best idea. In my current state I was still very vulnerable, death was entirely possible (and plausible all things considered), but that didn't matter. All that mattered was getting these children to safety.

Unfortunately, I decided to use what little energy I had left to blast Torchwick a few feet back. My vision became blurry, and I felt my legs give out. Before I could fall to the floor, a red blur held me up. Ruby.

"Y-yang…" I choked out, for reasons even I didn't understand. I could barely think straight at this point.

"Don't worry." Ruby reassured me. "With each hit she gets stronger, and she uses that strength to fight back! That's what makes her special."

"Like a saiyan…" I mumbled, lifting my head. Without having to use most of my strength to stand, my vision began to clear up a bit. I saw Yang get back to her feet and saw her hair begin to glow. As the Padalin attempted to hit Yang yet again, she grabbed the fist, stopping it in it's tracks.

"Correction." I smiled, faintly. "A Super Saiyan…"

Yang threw her fist at the remaining arm of the Padalin, blowing it to pieces. At first I was surprised, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Since that thing was built to take me on, it has some decent power behind those punches. I should know since it just beat me into the ground. From what Ruby said about her semblance, Yang was gaining strength with each hit she took...wait a minute, she WAS like a Saiyan. If she takes enough hits from a strong enemy and survives, she can become even stronger than them!

Yang could be extremely powerful given time and training. That semblance could be incredibly useful, too bad the power doesn't stick around after she drops the form. Regardless, with that new revelation my mind was at ease. Yang's newfound strength would tip the balance of the battle in our favor. As soon as I refocused on the fight, I saw that Yang was kicked into the air by the mecha and landed opposite us.

"Bumblebee!" I heard Ruby yell. While my current situation made it impossible to see everything that happened, I managed to notice Blake throw her whip in the direction Yang had been sent. Yang then held onto it as she flew in the air just a moment later. She was firing blasts from Ember Celica to increase her momentum, and Blake attempted to launch Yang at the Padalin, but the mecha just managed to dodge it.

"Ah-Ah-Ah!" Roman mocked. "I'm not going anywhere near that!"

I saw Weiss run next to us, as Ruby stated that they had to slow the machine down. "And _how_ do you propose we do that?" Weiss questioned.

Ruby placed me on the ground behind her softly, before yelling out to her teammate. "Iceflower!" She cried as she took out Crescent Rose once again. Weiss created a glyph directly in front of Ruby's weapon, creating what appeared to be a blue ball of light when the redhead fired. When the attack made contact with the Padalin, its feet were frozen to the ground. Ruby fired a few more shots until it became clear Roman would no longer be able to dodge.

"Now!" Ruby yelled towards Blake, who responded by swinging her Gambol Shroud as hard as she could. Yang clenched her fist and gave out a battle cry, as her knuckles connected with the mecha, blowing the entire robot into nothing.

Roman himself was knocked several feet, rolling on the ground for a moment, before getting up and dusting off his clothes. "I just got this thing cleaned…" He complained.

Yang wasted no time in firing another round from Ember Celica, but before it could connect, someone came from the sky and blocked it with an odd looking umbrella.

"Her...again?!" I choked out, noticing that it was the same pink and brown hair girl I had identified before.

"Huh?" Ruby asked, turning towards me. "You've met this girl?"

"Not...really…" I answered. "...she was with Roman...at the meeting…"

"Ladies, and Ice Queen." Roman acknowledged with a mock bow, interrupting Ruby and I's conversation. I heard Weiss shout in objection to her nickname, but Roman simply ignored it. "Neo, if you would?"

The girl I now knew as "Neo" did a curtsy, a smirk on her face. This apparent overconfidence clearly didn't sit well with Yang, who ran over towards the to and attempted to throw a fist in their direction. Just like what had happened to me and Roman a few moments ago, the two of them shattered into pieces, along with the surrounding area. I darted my eyes to find where Roman and Neo had gone, only noticing when it was too late that they were flying off in an airship.

Ruby lifted me off the ground to meet up with Blake and Yang, along with Weiss. "So I guess he got new henchmen." Yang noted.

"Yeah." Weiss agreed. "I guess you could say that she really made our plans...fall apart?" Everyone collectively groaned, including me. In my defense, I wasn't groaning because of Weiss's awful pun, but because of the terrible pain I was in.

It seemed that Yang, of all people, was about to comment on Weiss's joke, but Ruby interjected. "Guys, we have to get Trunks back to Beacon as soon as possible. He needs help."

"Hold on." Blake stated as she took out her scroll. "I should have Goodwitch's number…"

The pain I had been experiencing this entire time began to grow to unimaginable levels, and I soon blacked out.

* * *

 _Hours Later_

As I returned to consciousness my whole body ached, but the pain I felt earlier seemed to be gone. I tilted my head to the right and slowly opened my eyes, only to quickly close them due to the sudden light. I heard a gasp, and managed to fight the burning light to take a look at the source.

I was in some sort of hospital room, on top of a bed that was actually pretty comfortable. Right next to me was Ruby, with a surprised yet happy expression clear on her face. Behind her, in the seat closest to me, Yang sat with a similar expression. In the seat beside her, Blake had a book on her lap. Her reaction was dull, as if she had just seen that I was awake. Furthest away from me was Weiss, who looked at me with concern. It was funny, just a few months ago and she likely wouldn't have cared that much about my condition. Now...well I wouldn't call us friends, but she doesn't hate me anymore.

"Trunks, you're awake!" Ruby yelled, sighing in relief. "Are you...feeling any better?"

"A little…" I replied. "I still feel weak, but at least my energy isn't draining from my body like it was before."

"Do you have any idea what caused you to feel that way?" Blake asked.

"I've got...a few ideas…" I said, trying to sit up but recoiling when I felt the pain. "You remember that Heart Virus I told everyone about?"

Ruby spoke up before I could continue. "You don't think you have it, do you?!" Ruby shouted worriedly.

"No." I responded, matter-of-factly. "I've been in this dimension for so long that if I had gotten infected, it would've hit me way earlier. I do think this is some sort of virus, though."

"...but there isn't a virus or sickness that's anything like what you've experienced on Remnant!" Weiss interjected.

"It could be something undiscovered." Yang countered. "I mean, nobody knew about the heart virus when Goku got it, so…"

Before Yang could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by a familiar voice. "You won't have to worry about that." Ozpin said as he opened the hospital room door, revealing both Glynda and himself.

"Professor Ozpin!" Ruby suddenly jumped back. "What do you mean?!"

"We _might_ have figured out what happened with Trunks." Glynda responded.

"Really!" Ruby jumped up and down, excited. "So, what was it?"

"We'd actually like to discuss that with Trunks in private." Non-answered Ozpin. "So, if you girls could exit the room for a few moment…"

Yang pouted. "Come on, Professor! We saved him, don't we have the right to know what…" She stopped when Glynda glared at her. Quickly, the team rushed out the door, leaving me alone with the headmaster and Glynda.

"So…" I asked. "What is it? With everything else you've told me, I've honestly got no idea."

"The explanation is actually quite simple, compared to what we've told you before." Glynda responded. "Still, we should start from the beginning."

"As you've no doubt noticed, you're aura is no longer draining." Ozpin continued. "We figured out how to cure your sickness. We injected you with the antidote while you were unconscious."

"Seems like it worked, then." I replied. "Aside from a few minor aches, I feel pretty good."

Glynda smiled, before frowning again. "If only that was the end of the story. You see, we've figured out what infected you...and it's not good." She paused for a moment, before sighing. "It's not a natural virus."

I raised an eyebrow confused. I was about to question Glynda's wording, but she interrupted me. "It was developed by Atlas' military."

What.

Immediately, I started trying to force myself up, but I still felt weak from the fight. I wasn't anywhere near as weak as before, but I wasn't even close to my original strength. Clearly I hadn't fully recovered from this...disease that Atlas had developed.

"Trunks, calm down!" Glynda yelled, trying to keep me down on the bed. "You need to rest, your aura hasn't fully recovered!"

I stopped struggling, allowing myself to lay back down. "When WILL it be, then?"

Ozpin sighed. "Think of your aura as a scroll battery." He explained. "Right now, your aura is charging, and like a scroll, most of the power is charged quickly. However, as you get closer to maximum, it takes more time."

I relaxed my body a bit. "That still doesn't answer my question. When will I be fully recovered?"

Glynda looked down at the ground and closed her eyes. "At best? Months."

My eyes nearly popped out of my head. "You're kidding!"

Glynda shook her head. "I wish we were."

I just stared at the ceiling, dumbfounded. I couldn't even fully process what had just occurred. I almost died trying to fight off a robot, and now I'm being told that I've lost most of my ki. To make matters worse, it seems I've made a new enemy in Atlas. I was absolutely furious, and I knew exactly who was to blame for this.

I turned my head back towards Glynda and Ozpin. "The second I get out of here, I'm having a long talk with Ironwood."

Ozpin nodded. "That's understandable." He replied. "Just please...stay calm during the discussion."

I didn't bother responding, I wouldn't make a promise I couldn't keep. For a moment, there was silence. Then Glynda spoke up.

"I imagine you'll need some time to process all of this…" She stated as she exited the room. Ozpin quickly followed, leaving me alone to think about my newest predicament. I just can't catch a break, can I?

* * *

 **?**

Finally.

Finally I had been awakened. I sat in that tube for months, waiting for my body to develop, but the wait was finally over. I still felt the words echo in my mind...my prime directives.

" _Kill Goku."_ Was the most prominent. Unfortunately the Doctor's data indicated that Goku had already perished many years prior, to a heart virus. How ironic for the Earth's strongest warrior to be defeated by a mere virus. If it weren't for the fact that this directive would never be satisfied, I'd be laughing about it right now.

Of course, there was my other directive as well. The one I was currently focused on. " _Become Perfect."_ Boomed the great doctor in my mind. " _Absorb androids 17 and 18."_

"Yes, Doctor." I rattled out to no one. I was in the air at the moment, searching the now deserted planet. Most of the remaining humans had been killed by my prey. The few remaining earthlings that I had encountered, I simply absorbed. After all, I wasn't one to complain about a free meal.

After a few hours of searching, I finally found them. Sure enough, they were terrorizing another city. With the time I had been in that tube, it almost seemed like a miracle that there were still humans left for the androids to toy with at all.

I flew down to the city, making sure to keep out of the androids' line of sight. From the data the Doctor had collected, I was still weaker than the both of them combined. What I needed to do was absorb one of them before they even learn I exist. Then the last one would be easy pickings.

Instead of engaging them, I hid behind a building and observed them. It seemed they had already killed most of the city's populace. The only person I could see or sense was an old man that #17 had at gunpoint. " _Disgraceful._ " I thought. " _The incredible work of Dr. Gero being reduced to using regular firearms._ "

Still, it answered a few questions. The fact that the androids hadn't destroyed the planet's entire population, and the fact that they were using firearms instead of their infinite energy core, must mean that they were making a game out of Earth's destruction. Typical for two teenagers to make a game out of what should be serious business.

"You...you monsters!" The old man choked out. "You...you'll pay for this!"

17 merely chuckled and pulled the trigger. The man's head exploded, blood and guts spilling everywhere, and the remains of the now dead human dropped to the ground.

"Well, that's everyone in this city." 17 announced, turning to his sister. "Ready to go to the next one, sis?"

"I'm still pissed about that stupid video game." 18 responded. "I say we go home. I'm not in the mood to destroy any more cities."

"Aww, come on sis!" 17 pouted, chuckling. "You're not seriously going to let a silly arcade machine ruin your day, are you?"

"17, we've been at this ALL day. If we keep going at this rate there's not going to be any more people to play with."

The black haired teenager shrugged. "Well, I've guess you've got a point there, 18. Fine. We'll head home for the day."

No! I hadn't absorbed them yet! Quickly, I fired a small blast from my palm towards the two androids (Well, technically cyborgs, but I wasn't going to argue with Dr. Gero's naming conventions). It was nothing much, just a powerful enough blast to attract their attention. When I saw them jump out of the way of the blast, I quickly ran to a new hiding spot, this time in a dark alley. After hearing the resulting explosion, I listened quietly to my prey once more.

"Well, that was interesting." Commented 17. "Who do you think it was?"

"Who else? That Trunks-kid." Responded 18. "Though I'll admit, hit and run isn't something that he'd usually do…"

"Yeah, that does seem odd." 17 noted, shaking his head. "Whatever. He can't hide from us, so I say we greet our old friend. What do you think, 18?"

I saw the blond haired android smirk. "Well, I guess I COULD blow off some steam." She chuckled, as the two siblings walked in the direction of the building I had fired from. They each pointed their hands at it, charging energy blasts.

'One chance, kiddo." 17 announced. "Come out now, and we might let you live."

Silence.

"Alright then. It's your funeral." The black haired teen spoke, before both 17 and 18 fired beams of energy, causing the building to combust. 17 turned back to his sister, laughing.

"Well that's that, I guess." He smirked. "It's almost too bad. I kind of wanted him to go out with more fanfare." I still didn't have the opening I was looking for. I needed to confuse them, get them to split up…

I leaped in the air, firing several small blasts along the way. I quickly dashed back to the ground and behind the buildings before I was noticed. I ran as fast as I could, firing ki blasts at my prey. The faster I went, the more disoriented the androids would be. Once I was satisfied, I stopped, dashed away in the opposite direction, and waited. As I expected, they easily dodged my attacks, seemingly more ticked off than frightened. I'd fix that soon enough.

"OK, now I'm starting to get pissed." 17 yelled. "Sis, let's split up."

18 seemed surprised. "What? Why?!"

"Whoever's trying to attack us is pretty good at staying hidden. If we split up we can cover more ground." The android explained.

18 seemed satisfied. "Fine. Just call after me if you find him. I don't want to miss out on the fun."

"Will do." 17 replied, already turning and looking for me.

Just as I had hoped, he headed towards the location I was at when I fired my last blast. Quietly, I hid in shadows, waiting. When my prey finally came close, I opened up my tail and launched it at him. The absorption began before he even knew I was there. His muffled screams couldn't alert his sister of his predicament, and it only took a few seconds for his body to make the trip through my tail.

The transformation began immediately. I felt every part of my body move and shift, my beak was replaced by a pair of lips. My lizard like feet turned into something that resembled a shoe. The two spikes on my head came closer together, until I felt an incredible power fill my insides. I was halfway to completing my main protocol.

Halfway towards my perfection.

I began to walk towards the alley I had hid in earlier. #18 had chosen to search there, almost entirely out of coincidence. "Hello, 18." I boomed, almost surprised at how different my voice was. It made sense, my transformation had modified my vocal cords, so of course my voice would be different.

The blond haired android turned around, surprised to hear an unfamiliar voice. When she looked at me, she immediately put two and two together. "So you're the one who was trying to take us out." She chuckled, before noticing something. "Wait...where's 17?"

I gave a smirk that almost answered the question on it's own. "Let's just say...you'll find out soon." I answered, wiggling my tail to prove my point.

She looked shocked, almost scared for a moment, before she began charging a blast from both her hands. "GIVE ME BACK MY BROTHER!" She yelled, firing several pink energy blasts in my direction. I simply stood there, allowing her blasts to hit me. After all, it wouldn't do much.

My prey seemed satisfied with her attack, until the smoke it had caused cleared and revealed me, no worse for wear. "Wha...how?!" She demanded, an expression on her face that indicated fear.

I didn't even respond to her this time. Instead, I dashed behind her and knocked her to the ground. As she tried to get back to her feet and attack me, I opened my tail and covered her head with it. I began sucking her in, laughing. She tried her best to escape, kicking and screaming the whole time, but the endeavor was pointless. Just a few seconds later, and she too had been absorbed.

Once more, my body began to transform. I felt my very skin color change to a pale white, and large black wings grew across my back. Just a few more minor changes later, such as my shoulders now become a dark black, and I had finished. I looked down at myself, and smiled. So THIS was what my perfect body felt like.

"Perfect Cell, huh?" I spoke in yet another new voice, talking to myself. "It has a nice ring to it, don't you think!"

* * *

 **I'll save you the trouble of thinking it. The future is SCREWED. Trunks better find a way home soon (well, soon relative to this time, the time machine typically gives a little leeway) or the future is probably going to end up even worse. I think the next time I go to the future will be around or right after "Breach". I'll tell you that Cell is probably just playing around with his newfound strength until we meet him again. Don't worry, I've got everything planned out for Cell and the future, I just don't want to do it all at once.**

 **Anyway, back on Remnant, there we go. I think this is a realistic reaction to Trunks' emergence. He's a superpowered alien, and Ironwood (as well as a good part of Atlas) is more than a little worried about someone with that much unchecked power, especially Ironwood because he was just recently informed about how Remnant is on the brink of war. They wouldn't be able to develop anything realistically capable of touching Trunks, so they decided they needed to take away his power to stand a chance.**

 **...sounds awfully familiar, doesn't it? I'll leave you with that while I get to reviews.  
**

 **SonicFan12: Oh hell yes. I'm not leaving it at just that...oh boy am I excited to write that scene.**

 **Guest(1): I guess that did come off as arrogant. What I was trying to say is that I think I've got a pretty good understanding of the character, and I've got my editor to fill in the blanks. What I did was a mistake that flew over both of our heads...likely because I've got TFS on the mind and that "Destiny" line from HoT gave me the idea. Again, it was my mistake and I own up to it.**

 **Guest(2): Alright, I hope you enjoy BOTH of these stories. Thanks for the support.**

 **Guest(3): I actually really like that idea, but he PROBABLY won't be meeting Penny. Depends on Season 4.**

 **Black Super Saiyan: Not to be a jerk, but I'm wondering if people are reading my posts about how I'm not shipping Trunks with anyone. Maybe Mai, but my current plan doesn't involve the Black Goku arc...so probably not. I'm usually a supporter of canon parings unless the story is specifically ABOUT two characters getting together. See Power Within.**

 **Well, see you all next time on A DIFFERENT PAST!**


	13. Aftermath

**Hi there, guys! Short AU at the start here, I've got an announcement at the end so make sure to read that part. Also instead of responding to certain reviews I will make it respond to specific questions. Maybe that'll cut the length of them down.**

* * *

 **Trunks Briefs**

"Hello, Ironwood."

I was allowed out of bed just a few days ago, and I was ready to take out my frustrations. At first I blew off some steam by fighting some Grimm, but all that I'd accomplished was reminding myself how much weaker I'd become. I had been trying to get an opportunity to talk to the general alone for a day or two, so I wasn't going to argue when I received a notice that Ironwood wanted to meet me in his temporary dorm. However, if the general thought he was going to be able to play damage control with me, he was sorely mistaken.

"Trunks." He greeted. It didn't seem like he was very happy to see me, but then again the feeling was mutual. I walked into the dormitory and the general closed the door.

"Now...Trunks, I understand that your aura level has dropped, and you've been informed that the Atlas military was the cause…"

"Get to the point, General." I demanded. There was no point in trying to calm me down, and I wasn't interested in watching Ironwood try and perform a futile task.

Ironwood sighed and shook his head. "Look, I know we didn't start off in the best way, but I swear that neither me or the rest of Atlas has any true ill will directed towards you. We're just very cautious. We did indeed put together that aura devouring virus, but it was never intended to be used!"

I rolled my eyes. "Likely story." I snorted. "Why would you develop a weapon if you never planned on using it?"

"It was supposed to be a failsafe, if anyone...undesirable came from your side. Like Cell, or Freeza."

The general had a point, but I was still angry. "Alright, fine. That doesn't explain how it was put together so quickly, and WHY I somehow got infected by it."

The general shrugged slightly. "It wasn't developed easily. It actually wasn't made just for you, I had it developed originally for usage against a rogue maiden."

That was interesting. "They're supposed to be a secret, though." I wondered aloud. "Who did you tell?"

Ironwood shook his head. "Nobody. I asked that everyone involved in its production not question it, and they did so. It wouldn't be the first time I needed to develop something in secret."

Ironwood stopped talking, and went over to look out the window. The general of Atlas sighed once more, before turning around. "...that past is exactly why I'm worried about what happened. You see, we kept the virus and the data relating to it in a top secret vault back in Atlas. Protecting it were some of the best security Atlas could provide."

I raised an eyebrow. "...and you're telling me someone broke in?"

"Precisely. I don't know who and I don't know how, but just the other day I received word that someone had broken into the vault and took the virus." He shook his head and stared at the floor for a moment, before continuing. "Luckily, we still had the data, and when you contracted the virus we were able to make a cure and get it sent to Beacon."

"You...saved me?" I realized. It was the complete opposite of what I assumed just a few days ago. With the way Ironwood acted towards me the day we met, I wouldn't have put it past him to try and kill me, thinking I was dangerous.

"I suppose you could put it that way." Ironwood admitted. "I'm not doing this to get in your good graces, I just want to sent the record straight."

"Right." I nodded, walking over to the door. "Good day, general."

I left the room and sighed. "Two steps back." I muttered. There was a part of me that was thankful Ironwood wasn't trying to kill me, but there were even more questions brewing now. Who DID break into Atlas's vault? Were they the same people who attacked Amber? Did they really mean for me to get hit with the virus? There were a lot of things I didn't know.

I pondered these questions as I walked over to my dorm, exhausted. It wasn't that late, but classes were over and I didn't have anything else to do today, so a nap sounded pretty good. During my travels, I almost ran into a girl with green hair. She was wearing a school uniform, but it wasn't the one I was familiar with from Beacon, meaning she must've been one of the students that were coming over for the Vytal festival.

"Sorry." I swiftly apologised. "I didn't see you there."

The girl hesitated for a moment, staring at me with a weird look in her eyes. When she finally did get to her feet, she started walking away almost immediately. She muttered a quick "It's fine." but that was about all of the interaction she gave me.

The way she acted made me feeling uneasy, and the way she looked at me didn't help matters. "Hey, you're one of the students flying in for the festival, right?" I asked, hoping to break the tension. No answer.

I sighed, she clearly wasn't in the mood to talk. Still, part of me just wanted to know one thing. "What's your name?" I shouted across the hallway.

The green haired girl stopped in her tracks, and hesitated for a moment. She seemed to be thinking an answer over, and oddity considering how simple of a question I had asked. Eventually, she turned her head and responded to me in an almost monotone voice.

"Emerald." She stated, before walking out of sight.

'Something about her didn't seem right…' I thought to myself. I understand someone being shy, but that wasn't shyness. She gave me a look that seemed really off, like she had some sort of distaste for me and was trying to hide it…

Wait, hide...it…?

"Oh...crapbaskets."

* * *

'Why hadn't I seen it sooner!' I yelled internally. I KNEW that those monsters who had attacked Amber would probably be hidden in this school, but I hadn't really paid close enough attention until now.

Granted, I could easily be blowing things out of proportion. In fact, I was hoping for that outcome. Still, I needed to be cautious. It didn't take long for me to find more information about Emerald and her team. She was from Haven apparently, and her team was composed of Herself, Mercury Black, Jade Lavender, and Cinder Fall.

Fall.

Autumn.

Amber.

I shook my head. That was probably just a coincidence, regardless of if they really did attack Amber or not. I mean, this "Cinder" couldn't have actually changed her last name after taking her power, that'd be a dead giveaway...unless that was what she WANTED us to think...Kami, I'm sounding like a conspiracy theorist right now!

Either way, I can't do anything just yet. I don't have any real evidence on hand, just a gut feeling, but I can do a couple things at least. First, I need to tell Glynda, Ozpin and everyone else who knows about Amber and the rest of the seasonal maidens. Second, I need to make it clear to Emerald and her team that if they ARE Amber's attackers, they don't stand a chance against me. With luck, that will get them to give up this plot of theirs.

Of course, with my track record regarding luck...nothing can ever be that simple.

Emerald and Mercury were currently in Glynda's class, which usually ended up just being a lot of sparring and practicing. That factor was just gonna make my job alot easier.

* * *

 **Ruby Rose**

Cardin laid on the ground, beaten badly. He was clearly feeling utterly humiliated after the battle that had just occurred. Pyrrha, on the other hand, stood confident and victorious after taking out the entirety of Team CRDL single handedly.

"And that's the match." Professor Goodwitch announced as the lights flickered back on.

"L-Lucky...shot…" Cardin grumbled as he struggled to get to his feet. After a moment, he just fell back down the floor, out of strength.

Glynda glanced at the fallen student and shook her head slightly, before turning her attention back towards Pyrrha. "Well done, miss Nikos." She complimented. "You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament."

"Thank you, professor." Pyrrha responded with a respectful nod.

"Don't take her words as empty compliments." Trunks' voice suddenly boomed throughout the halls. "Goodwitch isn't easily impressed." I quickly turned my head to find my mentor. I wasn't exactly shocked that he suddenly showed up, but I was a little surprised. Trunks didn't usually interrupt classes.

Glynda seemed to have the same thought. "Trunks?" She raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What are you doing he…"

Trunks suddenly gave Glynda a look that almost made me jump. He suddenly seemed very angry, and incredibly serious. I had yet to see Trunks be that angry until now, and it honestly was scary.

An instant later, Trunks turned back to Pyrrha, joyful as ever. Glynda seemed to get whatever Trunks' message was supposed to be, and backed off. I was still confused, why would Trunks get so angry all of a sudden. What IS he doing here?

"Same goes for me." Trunks continued. "You've got a warrior's spirit, Pyrrha. Good work." Trunks gave a grin that seemed like the complete opposite of his expression beforehand.

Pyrrha hesitated for a minute, amazed that she was receiving praise from someone as strong as Trunks. "W-Wow…" She stuttered. "I'm honored." She gave a respectful bow, and Trunks responded with the same.

Professor Goodwitch cleared her throat, trying to get the class back on track. "Well, I know that was a tough act to follow, but we should have just enough time for another sparring match." She spoke, pressing a few buttons on her scroll before looking back at the class. "Any volunteers?"

No response. I think I heard someone cough, it was so quiet.

"Miss Belladonna?" Glynda continued, seeming to direct her eyes towards Blake. I took a quick look at the Faunus, and saw that she was reading a book. When she heard her name called though, she quickly closed it. Glynda then continued speaking. "You've been rather docile these past few classes. How about you-"

"I'll do it!" Someone suddenly yelled out, interrupting the professor. When I turned to see who did it I saw that it was the guy with the grey hair I met the other day. The green haired girl was there too. I chuckled to myself, amazed that I hadn't noticed them till now. It's not like I didn't think they'd be here, I knew that the visiting students were going to be taking classes here to keep up with their studies. I just hadn't thought about it until now.

I saw Trunks' eyes sharpen for a second, while Glynda looked back at her scroll to get the grey haired guy's name. "Mercury...was it?" She asked. When the kid nodded, she kept going. "Very well, let's find you a sparring partner."

"Actually…" Mercury interrupted again, moving his finger around as if to choose someone. "I wanna fight…"

"Me."

Every single person in the room suddenly turned their heads. My eyes almost bulged out of my sockets.

Glynda raised an eyebrow. "Now, Trunks, you know that you're still recover-"

Trunks nodded his head towards Mercury, and Glynda stopped talking. I couldn't get a good look at her, but she seemed surprised. "I see some potential power in that kid, and I want to see it for myself."

I quickly turned my head towards Mercury. I trained with Trunks almost every day, so I know for a fact how tough of an opponent he was. I also knew that be challenged by him was a huge honor. This guy helped save his world, he was from another dimension for crying out loud! He had the power to blow up the planet! Getting complemented by him like what Pyrrha got was one thing, but him wanting to fight you is another entirely.

When I looked at Mercury, he seemed about as surprised as I expected. He quickly managed to hide it with a confident smirk. "Bring it on." He responded, determination and confidence filling his voice.

Everyone went silent again, until Glynda cleared her throat with a loud "Ahem".

"Well then, if Mr. Black would like to battle with Trunks, and Trunks himself wants to…" Glynda announced. "...I suppose I can allow that."

It seemed the match was set. Mercury leaped out of his seat and onto the stage. Pyrrha backed off and returned to her own seat. Trunks took out the blade that I had made for him and got into a battle ready stance. Mercury, on the other hand, just stood there with a cocky smirk on his face.

Glynda pushed a few buttons and a screen appeared behind the two fighters, showing each respective combatants aura levels.

"Ready?" The professor asked. Both men nodded.

"Then begin." Instantly, the two fighters charged at each other. Mercury threw a kick at the Saiyan, but Trunks easily ducked under it and attempted to slash the grey haired student in the chest. Mercury barely dodged it, but his cocky demeanor didn't seem to fade. He leaped into the air and flung his feet towards Trunks, performing a dropkick. Trunks blocked it with his forearm, but Mercury was suddenly launched backwards by a white flash from his feet, knocking Trunks back a few feet. Mercury flipped in the air and landed on his feet in a kneeling position. The second I realized what had happened, I almost squealed. That was so cool!

Yang scooted over and leaned towards me. "What was that?" She whispered, confused.

I had to struggle to keep my voice down, due to my excitement. "His boots are his weapon!" I told her. "He can shoot out of them, kinda like your Ember Celica!"

"Huh." Yang shrugged. "Neat."

Trunks rubbed his arm, inspecting it. When he didn't find any burns or lasting damage, he returned his focus to the fight. He performed what he had explained to me as an afterimage, in which he moved so quickly that an image of him standing is left behind from where he dashed. Mercury didn't seem to know this, as he fired a few blasts from his boots towards where Trunks was. As I expected, they passed right through the afterimage and exploded onto the ground.

As if on cue, Trunks appeared behind Mercury and swung his sword along the grey haired students cheek. Mercury was sent flying across the arena, but he managed to catch himself on the floor and stay on his feet. His smirk has finally disappeared, as he seemed to realize how strong Trunks was even now.

Firing a blast from his boots, Mercury used the momentum to launch himself into the air, pushing himself off the ceiling towards Trunks, feet first. Trunks easily caught Mercury's foot and tried to slam him into the ground, but Mercury used his hands to stop himself from crashing down. Before Trunks could react to this, Mercury fired two more shots out of his boots, point-blank in Trunks' face.

Trunks was knocked back onto the hard floor from the blast's power, and Mercury flipped back upright. He chuckled slightly, seeing Trunks on the floor, but quickly got ready for business when he saw Trunks' figure fade away.

Trunks suddenly appeared behind Mercury, before the figure faded away. Trunks reappeared again, this time to Mercury's right, but he stayed just as long as before. This process repeated itself a few times with a Trunks appearing at different points around the student, until Trunks finally appeared directly in front of Mercury. The Haven Student suddenly jumped back a few inches in surprise, as Trunks gave a simple smirk. Trunks faded away once more, reappearing just a few feet away.

"Surely you're better than this, Mercury." Trunks commented, more than a hint of cockiness emanating from him.

"How…" I heard Mercury mutter. He leaped into the air and spun around, firing a few blasts from his boots. Trunks, seemingly not concerned at all, simply stuck his palm in front of him.

"Burning Storm!" Plasma blasts launched out of Trunks' hand, homing on Mercury's blasts. When the shots collided in the air, they created a giant smoke cloud that covered the entire area. I did my best to follow Mercury and Trunks' movements by feeling for their aura, but my basic ability to feel aura wasn't nearly as good as Trunks' ability to sense it.

Eventually though, a white blast was thrown out of the cloud. It began to circle the cloud of smoke, somehow changing its position in mid air. A few moments later another blast emerged and circled the cloud along side the first. More and more blasts came out of the smoke cloud, until there was an almost complete ring of white circling the cloud of smoke.

The smoke finally faded away, revealing both Trunks and Mercury facing each other with intense looks on their face. If I didn't know any better, it would seem like they really hated each other, but I knew that it was just their determination to win this duel.

Mercury suddenly performed a handstand for a few seconds before slamming his feet into the ground. Trunks raised an eyebrow at the odd display, but then he noticed the whirl of air around him. When he looked up, he finally noticed what the audience already knew. The blasts that were spiraling around the fighters began to home in in Trunks. The shots exploded when they hit his body, one after one until a smoke cloud comparable to the one just before the assault. Mercury's smirk returned, and he relaxed his muscles and dusted his hands off.

Then the dust cloud was pushed outwards until it became nothing. In its place, Trunks stood...different from before. His purple hair had spiked up and turned to a golden blond. His blue eyes had become a teal shade, and his aura level on the screen overflowed.

Mercury, meet Super Saiyan Trunks.

Mercury didn't even get a chance to react before Trunks attacked. The instant after he transformed, his fist was rammed into Mercury's stomach. For a moment, I thought I actually saw the outline of Trunks' fist in Mercury's back. His aura seemingly shattered off of his body, and the Haven student was sent rolling back quite a few feet.

The noise that signified the end of a sparring match filled the arena, and Trunks returned to his base state. Mercury struggled to get back to his feet, groaning in pain from the punch my mentor launched in his chest.

Trunks threw his sword several feet in the air. "I'll admit, you put up a good fight." He stated, paying no mind to the deadly weapon that was spinning in the air. He was still smirking, but his expression suddenly returned to his serious look from earlier. "...but even in my weakened state, I still HEAVILY outclass you."

Trunks leaned to the side, letting the sword fall into its sheath perfectly.

"Remember that." He growled, his words almost echoing across the room. Just after he finished his statement, the school bell rang, seemingly punctuating Trunks' words. The Saiyan walked off without another word.

"What was that all about…" Weiss wondered, raising an eyebrow.

"Trunks seemed...off." Blake also noted.

"He seemed a lot angrier than usual." I realized. I turned over to the rest of my team to announce something. "I'm gonna go talk to him. Don't wait for me, I'll catch up."

Knowing how fast Trunks could be, I didn't waste any time. I leaped from my seat and activated my semblance, promising to pick up the rose petals I left behind later. Luckily for me, Trunks didn't get very far before I dashed in front of him. He seemed surprised to see me, but not in a bad way.

"Hi, Ruby." He said, smiling warmly. "What's up?"

"Uh, hi." I greeted, the tips of my fingers touching as I tried to figure out how to ask what I wanted to know politely. Eventually I gave up trying to put my words together delicately and figured that Trunks would understand. "What was with you a few minutes ago?"

Trunks raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

Was he trying to play dumb? Now I knew something was weird. "You seemed really angry about something when you fought Mercury. Is...something wrong?"

Trunks looked a little shocked for a few seconds, before closing his eyes and chuckling. He grabbed my head and ruffled my hair a bit before continuing. "Don't worry about it Ruby, I'm fine."

I looked down at the floor and pouted. "Sorry…it's just that, with the whole virus thing and then you seeming so different in Goodwitch's class, I can't help but get worried."

"Look, you saw what I did out there." Trunks explained. "Even with what that Virus did to me, I can still handle myself. In fact, I'll show you firsthand tomorrow, ok?"

"Huh?" I questioned, looking back up. "We're still training?"

"Of course." He answered. "Just because I'm weaker doesn't mean I can't help you become stronger."

I decided to let my worries go for now. "Awesome!" I held myself back from hugging him because that would be super weird, but I was still really excited. I had been practicing using my semblance on my separate limbs. I still hadn't gotten the hang of it, but Trunks kept telling me I was getting better.

I was awoken from my train of thought by a loud "Ahem" from behind my purple haired mentor. Trunks quickly turned around, revealing Professor Goodwitch. When Trunks realized this, he turned back to me. "Sorry, Ruby, I've got to go."

I politely nodded, and moved out of his way. Trunks and Glynda began to walk forward, leaving me alone. With that conversation done, I turned around and sighed as I began to pick up the rose petals I had left my wake.

* * *

 **Emerald Sustrai**

I looked both ways, making sure that no one was around to hear me. The dorms were soundproof for privacy reasons, but I was sick of holding in my rage and I needed to make sure we didn't get caught. Once I confirmed no one was around, I smacked my "partner" upside the head.

"Ow!" Mercury shouted in pain. "What was that for?"

"You IDIOT." I berated. "What were you thinking out there?!"

"He threw out a challenge, and I accepted it." He argued.

"Argh!" I growled as I opened the door to our temporary dorm. As much I hated to admit it, he probably was right. Trunks was the one who laid down try challenge, and not accepting it probably would have just made us seem more suspicious. I still was still holding out hope that I was thinking too hard about Trunks' words, he couldn't have possibly figured out who we were, right? Heck...why WOULD he know. Unless Ozpin told him about the maidens...though I guess that's actually pretty likely…

"Ah, there you are."

I quickly shut down my panic session. "Cinder, you're here already?!" I greeted.

"Uggggh." Mercury groaned as he fell face first onto his bed. He turned his head to face the wall and sighed.

"I see he isn't taking his loss well." Cinder noted.

My eyebrows raised in surprise. "You already know?"

She smirked. "That Vale's purple haired hero challenged an 'ordinary student'? Of course I know. News travels fast, Emerald."

"Then why are you acting so...calm?" I wondered aloud. "The way Trunks was acting...I think he knows…"

Cinder stifled a chuckle. "He suspects." She corrected. "We're still here after all. Until Trunks can prove his suspicions, he can't do a thing...so as long as we cover our tracks, the plan will run smoothly."

"Right…" I nodded, sighing in relief. Cinder was right, this wasn't the end of the world. It was an expected part of this phase. As long as we keep any evidence leading towards us out of sight, we'll accomplish our task.

"Anyway…" Cinder began. "It's interesting to hear that Mercury was defeated so handily...even AFTER we got that little 'gift' from Atlas."

I heard Mercury groan again from his bed. I rolled my eyes in response. "It was a surprise to me too. I figured he'd be at least as weak as a common Beowolf after his attack on the White Fang, and yet it hardly seems like he's weakened at all."

"Another easy mistake to make." Cinder commented. "That makes it twice now, that you two have misjudged his strength. Even 10% of Trunks' power outclasses our own at the moment. That's why we need to stay out of his way until the mission is complete."

"Right!" I nodded. "With the full power of the fall maiden, his strength would be nothing to you!"

"Indeed." Cinder agreed. "...but remember what I've told you two. This plan isn't about overpowering our enemy. It's about taking away the power they have...turning their advantages against them."

I nodded, this time silently. I recalled her telling me the same thing just before we broke into the Atlas laboratory. It was one of the toughest exercises I had ever put myself through. Constant use of my semblance made my head ring more times than I could count. Compared to the act of taking it, actually poisoning Trunks' food with it was child's play.

"Say…" Mercury finally spoke up without groaning or moping. "We're missing one from our 4 man band. Where'd Roman's little lapdog run off to?"

Cinder smirked...well, smirked more than she usually did at least. "Let's just say she's…scouting."

* * *

 **Trunks Briefs**

I sat once again inside of Ozpin's office. This high up, the air was cold and thin, and my jacket did very little to warm me. That was, of course, the least of my problems.

"So...you think that this group of visiting students are the same people who attacked the Fall Maiden?" Ozpin wondered, sitting in his office chair with a thoughtful yet serious expression clear on his face.

"It might not be ALL of them…" I admitted. "...but I have reason to suspect that team. It's not enough evidence to convict them of anything, but I'm going to keep an eye on, and I suggest you two do the same."

"That's fair." Glynda added. "Unfortunately, like you said, there isn't much we can do just yet."

"Yes." Ozpin agreed. "Even if we knew with absolute certainty that this team was the cause of Amber's condition, we couldn't possibly act on that knowledge without proof."

I sighed. "Exactly, that's where I come in." I began to explain. "You asked me just a few days ago to keep an eye on the students, so that's what I'm going to do. If they try anything, I'll know."

Ozpin smiled. "Well then, I suppose that settles it. I wish you luck, Trunks." I nodded in response, and began to leave. Before I opened the door, though, Ozpin spoke up again. "I've been meaning to ask...I heard you had a discussion with Ironwood yesterday. How did that go?"

I sighed and turned back towards the headmaster. He wore a quizzical look, seemingly worried. Glynda wore a look that seemed identical. I stared at them for a moment, before finally answering them. "It went...better than I expected."

Ozpin smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"

"We had things wrong, apparently." I described. "That virus the Atlas military made was nothing more than a failsafe...and it wasn't even originally made for me. They planned to use on someone like Cell...or a rogue maiden."

"Well then, that's interesting." Glynda frowned.

"It's almost a shame. I had hoped that by telling the truth to the general, he would be willing to do the same for me." Ozpin almost looked saddened.

I suddenly felt the need to defend Ironwood. It's funny, just a few days ago I hated him with a burning passion, and now here I was, defending his actions. "I doubt he wanted to keep that virus a secret." I cleared up. "I can only assume he wanted to prevent what happened to me. Unfortunately, I guess that didn't keep word from coming out."

Glynda looked surprised. "What do you mean?"

I lightly chuckled. "I guess the fact that I hadn't told you slipped my mind. Somebody broke into the Atlas facility where the virus was being held and stole it. I wouldn't be surprised if they were the same people who attacked Amber, too."

"I suppose that just means there are more pieces to this puzzle then we thought." Ozpin put his fingers to his chin thoughtfully.

I shrugged. I was beginning to actually understand Ozpin most of the time, but sometimes I just couldn't grasp his meaning.

I quickly waved goodbye and pressed the button to activate the elevator. I waited for a minute awkwardly as the elevator rose slowly to the top of the school. Eventually, a "ding" rang out and the doors opened, revealing the closed box. I started to step inside, but before I even made it all the way in, I sensed something I didn't recognize…nearby.

I quickly threw my arm out of the elevator to stop it from closing and charged a Ki Blast in my hand. "Show yourself!" I shouted. "I know you're in here!"

"Trunks, what's wrong?!" Glynda questioned, concerned and bewildered.

I tried my best to keep my senses on the Ki signature I discovered, but it kept fluctuating as if something was disguising it. It didn't feel like they were lowering their energy, and even if it did that wouldn't make sense because I hadn't taught anyone how to control Ki yet.

Eventually I completely lost track of the ki signature, and I let my attack disparate. I moved myself in between the office and the door, making sure the motion detector would see me and not close.

"Somebody was watching us." I explained, calming down. "I couldn't get a read on their aura. It was like it wasn't even consistent. It just kept changing position and feeling until I couldn't keep track of it anymore."

Ozpin spoke up, calm but concerned. "You haven't taught anyone how to use "Ki", so whatever happened must be the result of some sort of semblance."

"That sounds right." I agreed. "...and I don't suppose you keep tabs on each person's semblance, even just here in Vale?"

Glynda was the one to answer me. "We ask it in the application for each academy, but it's not a requirement to write it down. We fully understand why some people would like to keep their abilities to themselves."

I sighed. Of course it was optional. It made sense, privacy was important after all, but it was still frustrating. Just more questions we didn't have answers for. We couldn't so much as ask either, since other than General Ironwood, the headmasters didn't come with their students to Beacon for the Vytal Tournament. In short, we had no quick way to find out who exactly could have been listening to us.

That said, we do already have a list of suspects.

"Not to sound rude…" I started, a lightbulb flashing in my head. "...but I need a list of their team's typical class schedule. If they have a free period, I need to talk with them. Maybe then we can get to the bottom of all of this."

"That should be simple." Ozpin nodded. "...but with a situation this dire, I would prefer to be involved as well."

"Of course." I smirked. "If you can take the time out of your busy schedule to join me that could be nothing but help. You know this situation better than I do, after all."

"Trunks." Glynda suddenly spoke up. "I just considered something. What if we're wrong about this? What if we drag some innocent people into something they shouldn't have to be involved in?"

I looked down at the floor and considered this. Goodwitch provided a good point. What if these people ARE innocent? What do we do then? What happens to those students from Haven?

"I...don't know." I admitted. "I really should, since this is basically just an educated guess on my part...but I just feel so sure of it. I suppose, I need to soften my words. Not act as violent as I did today. Then, worst case scenario, they get confused and forget all about it later. As long as we don't directly mention the maidens...we should be fine."

Glynda smiled and nodded, while Ozpin did the same. "Very well." Ozpin spoke. "We shall meet again this time tomorrow."

"Right." I answered, walking back into the elevator to begin my descent. This is going to be a long week.

* * *

 **Cliffhanger? I guess. If so, I'm really sorry, because this the last chapter you'll be having for awhile. Don't worry, I'm not ending this series prematurely, it's just that I've got something I planned for my other story, Power Within, and I want to wait for Volume 4 for this story so I can figure out what comes next. I'll still be working on Power Within and posting it as often as possible. If you haven't read it yet, I recommend it because I dare say it's a better story than this one. I've got a lot planned for that one, at least EIGHT SAGAS, and it's gonna be awesome as we get into into out of canon stuff, a lot faster than in here. IDK exactly when I'll start up on this again, but it will be at least after Volume 4's completion.**

 **EDIT: My stuff didn't save, so no Q &A till whenever next time is. Sorry.**


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